(Yicai Global) May 12 -- OneConnect Financial Technology, a unit of Ping An Insurance Group that provides software services for small and medium-sized banks in China, narrowed its net loss by 27 percent in the first quarter, driven by rising demand.

The technology-as-a-service provider's net loss shrunk to CNY305 million (USD47.4 million) over the three months ended March from a year ago, the Shenzhen-based company said in an earnings report published on its website yesterday.

Revenue climbed by 41 percent to CNY820 million, primarily driven by a new cloud platform, along with support services, it added.

OneConnect was founded in 2015 as a technology service provider of insurance giant Ping An.

“We built on the momentum from the rollout of the cloud services platform last year, more than offsetting the gap from the exit of low-value products," said Chairman and Chief Executive Ye Wangchun.

The above-mentioned cloud platform, launched last year, made up 22 percent of all revenue. Operation support business, including emergency roadside assistance for car insurance policyholders and customer service bots, was booming as such revenue jumped 29.1 percent to CNY212 million, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total.

However, not everything was expanding. Revenue from business origination services fell 34.4 percent to CNY118 million as some products were phased out.

"This period of consolidation is critical to aligning our resources and positioning the company to better support the digital transformation of financial institutions," Ye added.

OneConnect's stock price [NYSE: OCFT] closed 0.7 percent down at USD13.40 in New York yesterday.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi