SHANGHAI: China Life Insurance, the world’s largest life insurer by market value, posted a 42 percent drop Wednesday in fourth-quarter profit because of a slump in stock markets and a large number of claims stemming from disasters.
Net profit fell to 8.17 billion yuan, or $1.20 billion, from 14.2 billion yuan a year earlier. The results were calculated by subtracting nine-month results from full-year figures.
China Life and its rival China Ping An Insurance suffered from a collapse in investment returns last year as the benchmark Shanghai composite index tumbled nearly 70 percent.
It also said the earthquake in Sichuan Province and major snowstorms resulted in many more claims.
For the full year, China Life’s net profit dropped 45 percent to 21.3 billion yuan, from 38.9 billion in 2007.
