(Yicai) Oct. 29 -- China Pacific Insurance Group, one of the country’s largest insurers, reported a 68 percent slump in profit for the third quarter from a year earlier, as a stock market downturn weighed on investment returns.

Net profit was CNY5.6 billion (USD844.9 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, the Shanghai-based company’s earnings report showed yesterday. Operating revenue plunged 45 percent to CNY79.4 billion (USD12 billion).

Earnings were “affected by short-term factors such as the capital market volatility,” President Zhao Yonggang said on the company’s earnings conference call.

China’s major stock markets declined in the quarter, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 6.1 percent, the Shenzhen Component Index 20 percent, and the ChiNext Composite Index‌ 21 percent.

CPIC’s share price [SHA: 601601] closed up 3.8 percent at CNY30.75 (USD4.62) in Shanghai today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2601] gained 0.5 percent to end at HKD26.70 (USD3.40).

For the first nine months of the year, net profit declined 20 percent to CNY36.4 billion (USD5.4 billion), while operating revenue fell 15 percent to CNY291.5 billion (USD43.7 billion).

Net operating profit rose 5.6 percent to CNY30 billion (USD4.5 billion), CPIC said, point out that this is a better reflection of its underlying business performance because it excludes short-term investment fluctuations and one-off projects.

CPIC had about CNY3.2 trillion (USD486.4 billion) of investment assets as of Sept. 30, an increase of 6.4 percent from the end of last year.

From January through September, CPIC’s ‌unannualized net investment yield dipped 0.2 percentage point to 2.4 percent from a year earlier, while its unannualized total investment yield slumped 2.7 points to 2.5 percent.

“Equity investment has a lot to do with the long-term economic growth of China,” Chief Financial Officer Su Gang said on the call. “If we look at the macro side, in the long term, we are still positive. We do see a lot of resilience from China's economy. 

“In terms of technology growth and also other areas, China’s economy is still bullish. There is a possibility of a slow bull market or a long-term slow bull market,” he noted.

Editor: Kim Taylor