Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China, the country's second-largest insurer, said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange Saturday that its net profit in 2009 would grow over 1,500 percent over the 2008 level.

The company did not give the exact figure of its estimated profit, but according to the statement, its net profit in 2008 stood at 662 million yuan ($96.93 million) with earnings per share at 0.09 yuan.

The result is an unaudited one, and specific figures will be released in the upcoming annual report, it said.

Ping An attributed its soaring profit to its rapid and sound development in its insurance, banking and investment business, and a change in China's accounting standards required by the Ministry of Finance from the end of last year.

A lower comparison basis in the 2008 period had contributed to the surge as well, it said.