The Life Insurance Corporation of India on Thursday said its net profit had risen 10 per cent to ₹10,461 crore for the quarter ended June 2024 from ₹9,544 crore a year ago.
Total income of LIC rose to ₹2,10,910 crore for the quarter ended June 2024, from ₹1,88,749 crore a year ago, according to a regulatory filing by the insurer.
According to LIC MD and CEO Siddhartha Mohanty, AUM increased by 16.22% to ₹53,58,781 crore as of June 30, against ₹46,11,067 crore a year ago.
Total premium income for the quarter went up to 16 percent, earning ₹1,13370 crore against ₹98363 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
While entering health insurance business, Mohanty said LIC is looking at picking up a majority stake in a standalone health insurer. "We will have a separate health insurance business, and we would like to pick up a majority stake in a standalone health insurer," he added.
First-year premium rose to ₹7,470 crore in the quarter from ₹6,811 crore a year ago. Renewal premiums also rose to ₹56,429 crore from ₹53,638 crore.
Investment income for the quarter rose to ₹96,183 crore from ₹90,309 crore in the April-June quarter of 2022-23. "LIC is looking to keep its equity market investments similar to that of the previous year. In FY23, LIC had invested ₹1.32 lakh crore in equities while in Q1FY24, it invested ₹38,000 crore, up from ₹23,300 crore in the corresponding quarter last year," said Mr. Mohanty.
VNB grew by 23.66 percent at ₹1,610 crore from ₹1,302 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. Net VNB margin was at 13.9 percent, it increased from 13.7 percent in the same quarter last year.
It improved its solvency margin to 1.99 percent from 1.89 percent a year ago. On the front of the quality of the assets, gross nonperforming assets ratio declined to 1.95 percent from 2.48 percent in the same period last year.
In the first quarter of the current financial year, LIC's overall market share rose to 64.02% from 61.42% in the same quarter of the previous year and 58.87% for the full year that ended on March 31, 2024. LIC is now working to increase its market share after consolidating changes in product mix, channel mix, and margin improvements over the last year.
The share of non-par products in the individual segment increased to 23.94 per cent on an APE basis in Q1 FY25 from 10.22 per cent in the same quarter a year ago. However, these growth figures notwithstanding, the margins for LIC remain stable, as the insurer's expense ratio fell by 98 bps to 11.87 per cent this quarter.
"As leader of the Indian insurance industry, we are committed to increasing insurance penetration and for that to happen, will work in tandem with the regulatory authorities. We look to further optimise our product and channel mix and improve margins," said Mohanty.
On its operations in Bangladesh, Mohanty said LIC of Bangladesh Ltd. partially restarted its operations from August 8, 2024. However, the situation in Bangladesh still remained unstable, which would continue to affect operations. LIC is keeping in regular touch with its local staff in that country and has apprised the Department of Financial Services of the situation.
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