GE Q1 profit falls 5% in absence of one-off gain

Singapore

LIFE insurance group Great Eastern Holdings continued to deliver growth in profit from insurance business for the first quarter of 2015.

But net profit attributable to shareholders for the three months ended March 31 fell 5 per cent to S$220.5 million from S$236.1 million as the year-ago corresponding period included a one-off pre-tax gain of S$31.9 million from the group's sale of half its 50 per cent stake in Great Eastern Life Assurance (China) Company. Excluding that one-off gain, Q1 net profit attributable to shareholders for Q1 2015 was 9 per cent higher.