Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has released its financial results for the December quarter (Q3FY23) on Thursday. According to the insurer, its consolidated net profit rose sharply to ₹8,334 crore in the third quarter, as premium income improved and it moved ₹5,670 crore to its shareholders' fund to shore up its net worth.
The insurance giant's had posted a profit of ₹235 crore in the same period last fiscal. In the July to September quarter, it had reported a net profit of ₹15,952 crore. LIC had reported a net profit of ₹682.9 crore in the April to June quarter.
LIC's net premium income improved to ₹1.11 lakh crore in the reporting quarter, up 14.5% from ₹97,620 crore in the year-ago period.
LIC Chairperson MR Kumar said, “We continue to remain focussed on creating a portfolio mix to optimise value for all stakeholders, and in that context, increasing the proportion of Non-par business in a consistent and profitable manner."
The first-year premium or new business premium grew to ₹9,724.71 crore in the December quarter from ₹8,748.55 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.
Single premium increased by 31% to ₹42,117 crore from ₹32,190 crore.
Net income from investments, policies sold & more
The net income from investments jumped 11% YoY to ₹84,889 crore from ₹76,574 crore in the year-ago period.
The insurer, which is largely reliant on an army of agents, said policies sold in the nine months ended 31 December, 2022, rose as much as 2% YoY to 1.29 crore.
The company's solvency ratio, the measure of an insurer's ability to meet its long-term debt obligations, rose to 1.85 from 1.77 a year earlier.
The company's gross value of new business (VNB), which measures expected profit from new premiums and is a key gauge for future growth, came in at 7,187 crore, while VNB margins came in at 19.1%.
The operating expense ratio for the nine months ending December 2022 increased by 27 bps to 15.26% compared to 14.99% for December quarter of last year.
As of December last year, LIC's assets under management (AUM) surged to ₹44.34 lakh crore as against ₹40.12 lakh crore, showing a growth of 10.54% on-year.
LIC has transferred ₹5,670 crore from its non-participating fund to the shareholders' fund. The insurance giant was planning to transfer nearly $22 billion from policyholders' funds into a fund earmarked to pay dividends or issue bonus shares, news agency Reuters had reported last year.
LIC Chairman to meet Adani Group's top management soon
The insurer has been a target of protests by the country's opposition political parties, which have been pressing for a probe into allegations by a US-based short-seller against the Adani Group.
The LIC Chairman has said that will meet Adani Group's top management soon.
The insurer, which has made investments worth more than $4 billion – or about 1% of its assets under management – in Adani Group companies, has maintained that its customers need not worry about the exposure to Adani companies.
Ahead of the announcement of the result, LIC stock ended 0.53% higher at ₹613.35 apiece on the BSE. The stock has been gaining for the last four days.
The insurance giant's stock is down 13% in a month. The stock hit a 52-week high of ₹920 on 17 May, 2022 and a 52-week low of ₹582.45 on 1 February this year. The market cap of LIC rose to ₹3.88 lakh crore on BSE.
This article taken by livemint.com
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