LIC Chairperson Siddhartha Mohanty during an interview at the LIC office in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported standalone net profit for the third quarter ended December rose more than 49% year-on-year to ₹9,444.41 crore (₹6,334.19 crore) on the back of higher net premium income as well as income from investments.
Net premium income increased nearly 5% to ₹1,17,016.92 crore (₹1,11,787.6 crore), while income from investments at ₹95,266.88 crore (₹84,869.03 crore) was 12% higher.
The insurer has declared an interim dividend of ₹4 per equity share (face value of ₹10 each). Shares of LIC on Thursday closed 5.86% higher at ₹1,106.25 apiece on the BSE.
The increase in consolidated net profit for the quarter was also a little over 49% at ₹9,468.98 crore (₹6,348.71 crore).
For the nine months ended December, standalone net profit stood at ₹26,913 crore (₹22,970 crore). The value of new business (VNB) increased by 8.40% to ₹5,938 crore, while the AUM increased by 11.98% to ₹49.66 lakh crore. There was improvement in 13th month persistency both on premium and policy basis. Solvency Ratio increased to 1.93 (1.85), LIC said in a release.
“Our consistent and focused approach towards diversifying and changing our product mix is now yielding results at a faster pace,” Chairperson Siddhartha Mohanty said. “The same is evident in the rise in the share of non-par business on APE basis to 14.04% of our total individual business for the first nine months of FY 2024. The fact that this is also accompanied by 200 bps increase in the VNB margin levels to 16.6% is an indicator that our strategic interventions are delivering in the manner that we envisaged. We will relentlessly pursue our targeted product and channel mix… committed to developing new products designed to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” he added.
Thursday’s board meeting also accorded approval for LIC’s proposal to subscribe to the memorandum jointly with one or more entities, of a Section 8 Company proposed to be incorporated for providing a one-stop electronic platform for the life, health and general insurance needs. To queries, Mr. Mohanty said the investment approval is for the Bima Sugam platform proposed by the insurance regulator IRDAI with participation from all insurers.
On the product launches, LIC had launched two new products in the third quarter and intended to make a new offering for the child segment soon. It had also made upward revision in the return on some of its annuity as well as single premium products.
