With a healthy increase in Annualized Premium Equivalent (APE) and a significant decline in Covid-related claims, private sector life insurer HDFC Life Insurance reported a 22 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in net profit for the first quarter of this fiscal at Rs 328.79 crore on a consolidated basis on Tuesday. In the previous fiscal year, the insurer earned a net profit of Rs 269.55 crore.
According to a stock exchange filing, the insurer's net premium income increased 30.54 percent year on year to Rs 9,870.06 crore in the first quarter of FY23 from Rs 7,560.69 crore, while first-year premium increased 32.91 percent year on year to Rs 1,708.66 crore from Rs 1,285.56 crore. Renewal premium increased 31.14 percent year on year to Rs 5,100.47 crore during the period under review. The annualized premium equivalent (APE) increased by 22% year on year to Rs 1,904 crores. During this time, the value of the new business (VNB) increased by 25%.
The insurance company's 13th-month persistency ratio was 88 percent in Q1FY23, compared to 86 percent in Q1FY22. 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 stated that the company's product mix remained balanced, with non-par savings accounting for 35%, participating products accounting for 30%, ULIPs accounting for 25%, individual protection accounting for 5%, and annuities accounting for 6%, based on individual APE. On the back of a profitable product mix and growth in the protection business, the new business margin for the first quarter of this fiscal was 26.8 percent, up from 26.2 percent in the first quarter of the last fiscal.