SBI Life Insurance posts 53% jump in profit as premiums rise in Sept qtr

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's SBI Life Insurance Co reported a 53% jump in second-quarter profit on Friday, helped by a rise in premiums and as its value of new business grew.

Insurance penetration has traditionally been low in India, but that is slowly changing, especially as more people rushed to buy new policies after the pandemic.

Profit rose to 3.77 billion Indian rupees ($45.5 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 2.47 billion rupees a year earlier, the company said in an exchange filing.

Net premium income rose 12.4% to 164.77 billion rupees, while income from investments rose 2.8% to 110.37 billion rupees.

SBI Life's value of new business, or the present value of expected future earnings from new policies, rose 53% to 21.2 billion rupees between April and September.

Its value of new business margin, a measure of the expected profitability of new business, rose by 630 basis points to 31% in the first half.

Embedded value, a measure of future cash flows for life insurers and a key financial gauge, stood at 424.1 billion rupees as of the end of September. ($1 = 82.8510 Indian rupees)

 

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)