China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Friday reported a net profit of 5.39 billion yuan (US$798.88 million) in the first quarter, up 55.07 percent from the same period last year.

China Life net profit up 55.07% in Q1 [CFP]

The return on equity was 3.69 percent, up 61.6 percent, and total equity hit 1.07 trillion yuan (US$156.57 billion), up 7.84 percent.

The increase in net profit and net equity mainly came from the performances of the stock market and bond market, said Xiao Chaohu, an analyst with Everbright Securities Co., Ltd..

The insurer's quarterly report put investment equity at 1.01 trillion yuan (US$147.92 billion) and the rate of return at 1.04 percent. It reported about 104 billion yuan (US$15.25 trillion) of premium income in the first quarter, up 1.8 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2009)