(Yicai Global) July 26 -- Shares in the People’s Insurance Company of China tumbled by as much as 7.2 percent today after China’s largest insurer of property and casualty insurance said that its third largest shareholder, a Chinese sovereign wealth fund, will unload a further 2 percent of stock.

The price of PICC’s Shanghai-listed equity [SHA:601319] closed down 6.37 percent at CNY5.44 (USD0.84). Earlier in the day it had slumped to CNY5.39. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG:1339] finished the day down 2.38 percent at HKD2.46 (USD0.32).

The National Council for Social Security Fund will sell up to 884 million shares, Beijing-based PICC said yesterday. This would result in a return of CNY4.8 billion (USD740.5 million), based on today’s closing price.

The paring is part of the fund’s routine investment business, the statement said. The exact amount of shares to be sold and the pricing are still be to determined, it added. As of the end of the first quarter NCSSF held a 14.28 percent stake in PICC.

Last July, the NCSSF also said it would sell 2 percent equity, but in the end it only reduced its shareholding by 1.08 percent or 478 million shares. Since then, PICC’s stock price has dropped 30 percent.

Last year the insurer logged a 3.6 percent jump in net profit to CNY20.1 billion (USD3.1 billion). Revenue grew 5 percent to CNY583.7 billion (USD90 billion), according to the company’s 2020 financial report.

The NCSSF, managed by the central government, invests in diverse financial instruments, including bank deposits, government bonds, stocks, and corporate bonds.

Editor: Kim Taylor