S'pore's Great Eastern says Q3 net profit up 9 pct

SINGAPORE Nov 3 (Reuters) - Great Eastern Holdings (GELA.SI), the insurance arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC.SI), said on Monday third quarter net profit rose 9 percent as higher earnings from insurance offset a drop in investment income.

Great Eastern, the largest life insurer in Singapore and Malaysia, earned S$135.2 million in the three months ended September, up from S$124.4 million a year earlier.

Insurance operations accounted for 26 percent of OCBC's core operating profit last year but only 4 percent in the first six months of 2008, as the fall in global markets hurt insurers' investment portfolio.

OCBC, which will announce its third quarter earnings on Wednesday, owns 87 percent of Great Eastern. (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)