Spanish insurer Mapfre said Thursday that its first-quarter net profit soared nearly 70% compared with the same period last year, thanks to the absence of significant catastrophes and higher profitability in its non-life insurance business.

The company's net profit reached 216 million euros ($231.81 million) in the first quarter, up from 128 million euros a year earlier, while group premiums rose 4.6% to 8.14 billion euros.

(1 U.S. dollar = 0.9331 euros)

(Reporting by Marta Serafinko and Natalia Siniawski; editing by Inti Landauro; Spanish edition by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)