UPDATE 1-Generali Q3 premiums and net profit rise

* Q3 premiums up 8.9 percent to 15.7 billion euros

* Q3 net profit up 85 percent to 390 million euros

* Shares closed up 0.7 percent ahead of results

(Adds detail, shares)

MILAN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Italy's largest insurer, Assicurazioni Generali SpA (GASI.MI), said 2009 net profit would top last year's when posting a rise in third-quarter premiums and net profit on Thursday.

"We are satisfied to report strong growth in the third quarter despite the macroeconomic backdrop, with a healthy recovery in both life and non-life production," chairman Antoine Bernheim said in a statement.

July-September premiums rose 8.9 percent to 15.7 billion euros ($23.3 billion), boosted by strong life insurance operations, beating a Reuters poll forecast for 13.3 billion.

Net profit rose 85 percent to 390 million euros, shy of analyst expectations for 445 million.

Generali benefited from geographical diversification and meeting cost-reduction targets, part of a strategy of investment in the past few years to boost efficiency, Bernheim said.

"This suggests we can expect a higher net profit for the full year compared with 2008," he said.

Analysts had expected 1.405 billion euros full-year net profit up from 862 million last year, according to the Reuters poll ahead of the results.

Generali's non-life combined ratio was 97.9 percent in the first nine months, worsening by 1.7 percentage points and below an expectation for 98.3 percent.

During the third quarter, shareholder equity -- a measure followed by analysts -- rose 16.9 percent to 13.6 billion euros, from end-June boosted by a pick-up in financial markets, the company said.

Generali shares closed up 0.7 percent at 17.42 euros before the results came out. The DJ Stoxx insurance index .SXIP ended 0.2 percent lower. (Writing by Nigel Tutt; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.6734 euro)