Chinese insurer PICC income down by 13% in Q1

The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (PICC) has reported lower earnings of CNY8.74bn (USD1.33bn) in the first quarter, or 12.9% lower compared to last year. The PICC, through its subsidiaries, offers a range of property and casualty insurance products. The company also offers asset management services for a variety of customers throughout China. Operating income rose 9.1% to CNY189.6bn and gross written premiums by 14.3% to CNY233.9bn. Net earned premiums also advanced by 11% to CNY172.7bn. The profit of its life insurance business plunged 33.5% to CNY2.2bn while that of PICC Property and Casualty was up by 10.8% to CNY4.32bn in the first three months. Chinese insurers are facing weaker economic growth while a slump in the benchmark CSI 300 Index weighed on investment returns in the first quarter.