Profits at China Life Insurance (601628.SH, 2826.HK, LFC.NYSE) rose nearly 72% in 2009 as the company benefited from the strong performance of the domestic stock market, Bloomberg reported. China Life realized investment gains of US$3.1 billion in 2009 as the Shanghai Composite Index rose nearly 80% over the year; premium income also rose, by 3.7% to US$40.3 billion as the insurer focused more on higher-margin products such as regular-premium, long-term policies. While a weaker domestic stock market means company does not expect a repeat of last year’s performance, analysts said that China Life could benefit from higher yields on debt purchases this year if Beijing implements expected interest-rate increases.
Categories