Chinese insurer Ping An has reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of 7.39 billion yuan ($1.15 billion) in the first quarter, up 21.9% on the corresponding period last year.

Total income was 103.14 billion yuan ($16.06 billion), up from 86.5 billion yuan ($13.47 billion).

Premium income was 85.02 billion yuan ($13.24 billion), a 13.8% increase, and investment income was 11.62 billion yuan ($1.81 billion), up 85.8%.

Claims and policyholder benefits paid totalled 62.57 billion yuan ($9.74 billion), compared with 52.38 billion yuan ($8.15 billion) in the first quarter of last year.

Life insurance total written premium was 74.82 billion yuan ($11.65 billion), up 12.4%; written premium from the more profitable individual life business reached 67.91 billion yuan ($10.57 billion), up 14.5%.

Property and casualty premium income was 27.14 billion yuan ($4.22 billion), an increase of 12%.

Ping An says increasing urbanisation and the launch of an income doubling plan in China provide “a tremendous development opportunity for the industry”.