CHINA Pacific Insurance (Group) Co said yesterday its first-quarter profit jumped 34 percent as its premiums continued to rise.

The Shanghai-based insurer's net income grew to 1.79 billion yuan (US$256 million), or 0.23 yuan a share, from 1.34 billion yuan, or 0.27 yuan, a year earlier, it said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. It said the rise in profit was better than market expectation.

Its total premiums jumped 63 percent to 26.9 billion yuan in the first quarter. Life premiums rose 70 percent to 22.8 billion yuan while property and casualty premiums added 19.25 percent to 7.8 billion yuan.

"The insurer is expected to maintain a rosy premium growth in the second quarter," Xu Shoude, an analyst at China Jianyin Investment Securities, wrote in a research note.

The insurer's investment profit, however, shrank 34.33 percent to 12.54 billion yuan at the end of March due to a decline in the stock market.

But Xu is confident that despite the sluggish stock market, the insurer's investment returns would maintain stable growth because of a broader scope in investments.

Xu rated the insurer as a "buy" and targeted a price of 45.30 yuan at the end of this year.

China Pacific, the country's third biggest insurer, has said it plans to sell as many as 900 million more shares in Hong Kong at a price not lower than the Shanghai offering price.

The insurer ended at 23.73 yuan in Shanghai yesterday, up 0.08 percent.