(Yicai Global) Aug. 27 -- Shares in ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance shot up 22 percent today on the news that China’s first internet-based insurance company’s net profit increased by more than five times in the first half from the same period last year, greatly exceeding expectations.

ZhongAn's share price [HKG:6060] closed at HKD53.40 (USD6.89) giving it a market capitalization of HKD78.49 billion (USD10.1 billion). The Shanghai-based firm had previously predicted on July 6 that its net profit would at least double in the first half.

The insurer raked in CNY490.5 million (USD71 million) in the six months of the year, according to its earnings report released yesterday. Revenue grew 14.7 percent to CNY6.8 billion (USD988 million) on the rapid growth of its insurance business in the health and lifestyle consumption fields.

The firm’s losses also shrank by almost 50 percent in the first half to CNY263.2 million (USD38 million), mainly due to less underwriting losses, according to the report.

ZhongAn will strive to break even in its underwriting business this year and try to further reduce costs through the steady increase in gross written premiums, Chief Executive Jiang Xing said at the earnings performance conference.

The company’s combined expenditure ratio advanced by 4.8 percentage points to 103.5 percent in the first half from the same period last year. Widespread use of fintech is gradually improving the operational efficiency of the insurance business.

ZhongAn’s performance has outstripped that of China’s traditional insurance giants which have been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. China Pacific Insurance Group’s net profit tumbled 12 percent to CNY14.2 billion (USD2 billion) in the first half and People’s Insurance Company of China tanked 18.6 percent to CNY12.6 billion.

ZhongAn was set up in 2013 by internet giants Ant Group, Tencent Holdings and insurer Ping An Insurance Group. As of the end of last year, it had served 486 million customers and issued eight billion insurance policies.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor