ICICI Prudential Life Insurance posted a 33 per cent yoy growth in its net profit for Q1 FY24 to ₹207 crore, largely on the back of net premium income and income from investments.
Net premium income rose to ₹7,020 crore against ₹6,884 crore in the previous year. The insurer earned net income from investments of ₹16,030 crore compared with a loss of ₹9,670 crore.
However, value of new business (VNB), which represents the present value of future profits, fell to ₹438 crore from ₹471 crore a year ago. The VNB margin was at 30 per cent for the quarter, also lower than 31 per cent for the year ago period and 32 per cent for FY23.
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Total APE (annualised premium equivalent) for the quarter was ₹1,461 crore, down 3.9 per cent yoy led by a 6.1 per cent decline in savings and annuity products, wherein all segments saw a fall of 1.8-8.1 per cent. Protection APE grew 4.2 per cent on the back of 61.8 per cent growth in retail protection to ₹110 crore. Share of protection products rose to 23.5 per cent of total APE from 21.7 per cent in the previous year.
“Through Ǫ1-FY2024, we have observed an improving trend in business, with double digit growth in APE for the month of June 2023. Our efforts towards expanding the protection business are visible in the 62 per cent year-on-year growth in the retail protection segment,” said MD and CEO Anup Bagchi.
APE de-growth was also on account of the decline in the share of ICICI Group and bank distribution as the insurer look to reduce its dependence. APE for the direct channel grew 28.5 per cent to ₹212 crore, accounting for 14.5 per cent of total business against 10.9 per cent a year ago.
Premium growth via the agency and partnership distribution channels was up 4.4 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively, as per the investor presentation.
The 13th month persistency ratio, a measure of customer stickiness, improved to 86.4 per cent from 85.4 per cent for FY23 and 85.5 per cent for the year ago period.
Assets Under Management (AUM) grew 16 per cent yoy to ₹2.7 lakh crore as of June 30. Solvency ratio worsened slightly to 203.4 per cent from 203.6 per cent a quarter ago and 208.9 per cent as of March 2023.
Going forward, the focus will be on data analytics, diversified propositions, digitalisation and depth in partnerships, the insurer said.