(Yicai Global) March 16 -- Shares of Ping An Insurance fell after the Chinese insurance giant’s annual profit sank for the third year in a row because investment income plunged amid stock market volatility.

Ping An Insurance [SHA: 601318] ended 1.6 percent lower at CNY45.23 (USD6.56) in Shanghai today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2318] slumped 3.4 percent to HKD50.50 (USD6.43).

Net profit fell 17.6 percent to CNY83.8 billion (USD12.1 billion) in 2022 from the year before, the Shanghai-based firm said in an earnings report released yesterday. It had profit of CNY101.6 billion in 2021, CNY143.1 billion in 2020, and CNY149.4 billion in 2019. Revenue fell 5.9 percent to CNY1.1 trillion (USD159.3 billion) last year.

Life and health insurance remained Ping An’s main profit source, thought that dropped 18.5 percent to CNY48.5 billion. Earnings from property insurance plunged 45 percent to CNY8.8 billion (USD1.3 billion). Both were lower due to tumbling income from invested insurance funds, which fell 29.3 percent to CNY101.8 billion in the period.

Operating profit excluding short-term investment fluctuations and other non-operational factors edged up 0.3 percent to CNY148.4 billion, the company noted.

Ping An did not release any earnings guidance but said it will continue to promote an intelligent and digital transition and speed up innovation in the finance and healthcare sectors to improve its businesses.

The firm will pay out a year-end dividend of CNY1.50 (22 US cents) per share. Combined with the interim dividend of 92 Chinese cents (13 US cents) a share already paid, the company returned CNY2.42 a share to investors for 2022, a 1.7 percent increase from the previous year.

Ping An Insurance’s annual profit from its banking unit Ping An Bank rose 25 percent to CNY26.4 billion. Its asset management business reported a net profit of CNY2.3 billion, an 81 percent slump.

The company’s tech business, which consists of financial technology service provider Lufax Holding, fintech company OneConnect Financial Technology, healthcare platform Ping An Healthcare and Technology, also known as Ping An Good Doctor, and vehicle sales and information site Autohome, turned losses into a CNY3.6 billion profit.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione