China's second largest life insurer Ping An Insurance lost 7.81 billion yuan (US$1.14 billion) in net profit in the third quarter, according to the firm's quarterly report released on Monday.

In the first nine months, the company incurred losses of 705 million yuan, with loss per share at 1.06 yuan.

The insurer attributed the grim situation to huge losses with its investment in the Belgian-Dutch financial services company Fortis shares. Book value loss hit 18.6 billion yuan by September.

In the first nine months, Ping An's premium income hit 78.45 billion yuan, up 31.4 percent over the same period last year.

The country's leading life insurer, China Life also posted huge decline in net profit in the first three quarters on investment losses.

The insurer's profit in the first nine months dropped 46.91 percent over the same period last year to 13.1 billion yuan.

Ping An saw its shares dropped 7.7 percent on Monday, to close at 20.87 yuan, while China Life suspended trading in the stock market.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2008)