Backed by a healthy rise in annualised premium equivalent (APE) and a significant decline in Covid-related claims, private sector life insurer HDFC Life Insurance on Tuesday reported around 22% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in its net profit at Rs 328.79 crore for the first quarter this fiscal on a consolidated basis. The insurer had posted a net profit of Rs 269.55 crore for the corresponding period last fiscal.
The insurer’s net premium income registered a 30.54% y-o-y increase to Rs 9,870.06 crore for the first quarter of FY23 from Rs 7,560.69 crore, while the first-year premium grew 32.91% y-o-y at Rs 1,708.66 crore as against Rs 1,285.56 crore, according to a stock exchange filing. Renewal premium during the period under review rose 31.14% y-o-y at Rs 5,100.47 crore. The annualised premium equivalent (APE) registered a y-o-y growth of 22% at Rs 1,904 crores. During the period, value of the new business (VNB) grew by 25%.
For the insurance company, the 13th-month persistency ratio stood at 88% for Q1FY23 compared with 86% for Q1FY22.
Commenting on the Q1FY23 performance, Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, said, “We continue to maintain a consistent growth trajectory, growing by 22% in terms of APE in Q1FY23. This has enabled us to maintain our market leadership as a ‘Top 3 life insurer’ across individual and group business.”
Padalkar said the company’s product mix remained balanced, with non-par savings at 35%, participating products at 30%, ULIPs at 25%, individual protection at 5% and annuity at 6%, based on individual APE. The new business margin for the first quarter of this fiscal was 26.8%, up from 26.2% in the first quarter of last fiscal, on the back of a profitable product mix and growth in the protection business.
According to the MD, Exide Life witnessed strong growth of 34% based on Individual WRP and continued to enjoy a healthy product mix and growth across channels. “The integration of Exide Life is on track. We have received the initial NCLT approval for triggering the merger process, including intimations to various regulatory authorities and related NOCs. Subsequent to receipt of the NOCs from various regulatory authorities, we can expect to receive the final NCLT approval,” Padalkar said, adding the company expected to receive the final nod from insurance regulator Irdai and be able to merge the subsidiary in the second half of FY23.
On the regulatory front, Padalkar said, “We have been in regular dialogue with Irdai and working on charting a roadmap to deepen life insurance penetration in India and welcome the initiatives taken by the regulator in this direction.”