CHINA LIFE WARNS ON 2012 PROFIT

China Life Insurance has warned that net profit for 2012 could be some 40% lower than the CNY18.33bn ($2.94bn) net gain reported in 2011, reports the Hong Kong Standard. Earnings for 2012 are likely to be in the region of CNY11bn, the report claimed. For the first nine months of 2012 China Life made a net gain of CNY7.43bn, down 55.6% year on year, with impairment losses hitting CNY29bn, up 300% on the first nine months of 2011. However, the Chinese economy bounced back somewhat in the fourth quarter, meaning that there could be some recovery for the whole year.