ICICI Pru Net Profit Rises 33% To Rs 207 Crore In April-June Quarter

ICICI Prudential Life on Tuesday reported a 33 per cent rise in its net income at Rs 207 crore in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, boosted by massive gains from investments.
     
Cashing in on a robust market, the company booked massive profit in the reporting quarter raking in Rs 16,327 crore from its investment in the markets as against a loss of Rs 8,496 crore in the year-ago period.
     
In a statement, the company said its income under unit-linked investments increased from a loss of Rs 9,888 crore in the first quarter of FY23 to a gain of Rs 14,159 crore in Q1FY24, primarily due to rise in the market value of the securities it held, coupled with a jump in profits on sale of investments.
     
Income under unit-linked investment is directly offset by changes in valuation of policyholder liabilities.
     
The company said the value of its new business (VNB) declined 7 per cent to Rs 438 crore, while its margin slipped 100 basis points to 30 per cent on-year. Also, new business premium declined 4.2 per cent to Rs 3,051 crore.
     
Yet, net income jumped 32.7 per cent to Rs 207 crore as the company could make good progress on cost efficiency -- cost to total weighted received premium ratio -- improving to 18.8 per cent from 27.7 per cent.
     
VNB, which represents the present value of future profits, declined despite retail protection sales grew 61.8 per cent to Rs 110 crore and the 13th month persistency improved to 86.4 per cent. The company did not offer a reason for the fall in VNB, though.
     
A suite of products coupled with a need-based selling has resulted in the new business sum assured, which is an indicator of the life cover opted for by customers, growing by 8.8 per cent to Rs 2,40,304 crore during the reporting quarter.
     
The total APE (Annual Premium Equivalent) stood at Rs 1,461 crore with minimal concentration risk from any single distributor.
     
Assets under management grew 15.8 per cent to Rs 2,66,420 crore.
     
Anup Bagchi, managing director & chief executive who assumed office mid-June, attributed the performance to the customer-centric approach and said the company will continue to focus on growing the absolute VNB.
     
He said the near 62 per cent spike in the retail protection segment has led to the overall protection business contributing nearly a quarter of the total APE.