Ping An Insurance annual profit rises 43 pct, above estimates

SHANGHAI, March 20 (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd , China's largest insurer by market value, on Tuesday posted a forecast-beating 42.8 percent jump in annual net profit, boosted by strong growth in its life insurance business.

Ping An made a net profit of 89.1 billion yuan ($14.08 billion) in the year ended December 2017, versus an average estimate of 75.5 billion yuan from 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. It was the company's highest profit since 2003.

China's insurance firms saw their net operating cash flow slump 65 percent last year, a source told Reuters, underscoring the challenges facing the sector as it reels from a state-led crackdown on sales of risky investment products.

($1 = 6.3293 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Engen Tham and Shu Zhang Editing by Shri Navaratnam)