PICC reports 4.7% rise in premium income

The People's Insurance Co (Group) of China Ltd, one of China's largest insurers, saw a 4.7 percent year-on-year increase of premium income to 498.6 billion yuan ($76.3 billion) last year, largely fueled by property insurance, according to the annual results its top management announced on Monday.

The company's premium income from property insurance reported an annual growth of 11 percent last year, reaching 388.8 billion yuan, according to Bai Tao, the president of PICC group.

"Despite the slump in China's new car sales last year, PICC's premium income from motor vehicle insurance totaled 258.9 billion yuan, up 3.9 percent compared with the year before," Bai added.

"Premium income from our non-motor insurance business surged 28.5 percent during the same period, reaching 129.9 billion yuan, mainly led by accidental injury and health insurance and credit guarantee insurance, which grew by 32 percent and 134 percent, respectively, in premium income."

According to Zhang Xiaoli, vice-president of PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd, a key subsidiary of PICC group, the rapid premium growth of non-motor insurance was partly attributed to the company's effective marketing strategies.

The company's premium income from life insurance and health insurance, however, saw a year-on-year decline of 11.8 percent and 23.1 percent last year, reaching 93.7 billion yuan and 14.8 billion yuan, respectively.

After going public in Hong Kong in 2012, the insurance giant returned to the A-share market last year, becoming China's fifth insurance company listed on both the A-share and H-share market.

With total assets of 1.03 trillion yuan, PICC reported net profit of 13.45 billion yuan last year, down 19.2 percent from the previous year, partly hit by declining investment returns, the company's report said.

"Generally speaking, this year PICC's focus is to foster strengths and avoid weakness," said Miao Jianmin, chairman of PICC group. "We will maximize the advantages of our brand images, teams and market share, while accelerating market-oriented reform and embracing cutting-edge technologies to overcome our shortcomings."

Li Jingya contributed to this story.