HDFC Life net profit rises 12 pc to Rs 425 cr in June quarter

HDFC Life on Tuesday reported an increase of 12 per cent in its standalone net profit to Rs 425 crore in the first quarter ended June 30.

The insurer had posted a net profit of Rs 380 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year ended March 2019.

Total premium rose 29 per cent to Rs 6,536 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 5,058 crore in the year-ago period, HDFC Life said in a release.

Its new business premium (individual and group) witnessed a rise of 47 per cent at Rs 3,926 crore during the quarter, while the renewal premium grew 29 per cent to Rs 2,610 crore.

Value of new business (VNB) shot up by 104 per cent to Rs 509 crore from Rs 249 crore.

HDFC Life said it registered a robust individual APE growth of 64 per cent during the quarter, while the term and annuity APE jumped by 63 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively.

Annualised premium equivalent (APE) is the sum of annualised first year regular premiums and 10 per cent weighted single premiums and single premium top-ups.

In terms of new business lives and sum assured, the life insurer said the total number of lives insured were up by 26 per cent to 1.3 crore during April-June period of 2019-20.

Overall, new business sum assured also saw an increase of 46 per cent to Rs 1.8 lakh crore during the same period.

"We have recorded stellar topline growth, with strong traction witnessed across savings, protection and retirement solutions whilst maintaining our focus on profitability. Our diversified distribution mix coupled with product innovation has helped us address niche customer segments and emerging profit pools.

"We have witnessed strong growth in key indicators of economic value generated by our business viz. new business margins at 29.8 per cent and operating return on embedded value at 19.9 per cent," said Vibha Padalkar, managing director and chief executive officer, HDFC Life.

Embedded value of a life insurance company is the present value of future profits plus adjusted net asset value.

The company's Indian Embedded Value (IEV) rose 23 per cent to Rs 19,230 crore during the quarter, compared with Rs 15,693 crore a year ago.

She said the company has stepped up efforts within the protection and retirement space, which the company expects would fuel its growth across market cycles.

Assets under management increased 18 per cent to Rs 1.29 lakh crore as on June 30, as against Rs 1.09 lakh crore a year ago, HDFC Life said.

Shares of HDFC Life traded 2.50 per cent higher at Rs 502.75 apiece on the BSE.