Ping An Insurance Company of China Ltd, China's second-largest life insurer, said Wednesday its net profit in the first three quarters of this year reached 13.2 billion yuan ($2 billion), up 8.4 percent year on year.

But the rate of growth slowed compared with the first two quarters as net profit in the third quarter fell 25.9 percent to 3.1 billion yuan, the company said in a report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company attributed the slower profit growth to decreasing returns from equity investments compared with the same period last year.

Earnings per share for the third quarter were 0.41 yuan, down 29.3 percent year on year.

Total assets rose to nearly 1.1 trillion yuan by the end of September, up 17.5 percent from the start of this year, the report said.

Total insurance premiums in the first nine months grew 22.4 percent to more than 128 billion yuan, out of which life insurance premiums hit 34 billion yuan, up 40.7 percent, while property insurance premiums rose to 45.8 billion yuan, also up 57.7 percent.

Shares of Ping An on Wednesday slumped 4.28 percent to 61.28 yuan in Shanghai. Its shares on the Hong Kong stock market also fell 3 percent to 84.15 yuan.