China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., one of the country's leading insurers, said Monday its first-half profit jumped 66.8 percent from a year earlier due to expanding premium income.

Net profits totaled 4.02 billion yuan (581 million U.S. dollars) for the first half. Earnings per share climbed to 0.47 yuan from 0.31 yuan last year, the nation's third-largest insurer said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The insurer said its profit surge was mainly due to a strong premium growth. The company collected a total of 76.1 billion yuan of premiums in the first half, up 50.2 percent year on year.

Its life and property insurance premiums jumped 53.1 percent and 45.1 percent to 48.96 billion yuan and 27.1 billion yuan, respectively.

The company's shares rose 0.29 percent to 24.17 yuan at the close.