ICICI Prudential Life Q3 net up 3.3% at Rs 450 cr

Net premium income of company rose 28.9% to Rs 5,698 crore during third quarter of 2016-17

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on Tuesday reported 3.3 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 450 crore for the December quarter of the current fiscal.

Its net profit in the October-December period of last fiscal was Rs 435.52 crore.

The net premium income of the company rose 28.9 per cent to Rs 5,698 crore during the third quarter of 2016-17, as against Rs 4,420 crore a year ago, as per its regulatory filing.

However, total income at Rs 5,213 crore was less than the net premium earned during the period because of a loss of Rs 501 crore in investment income. The total income in the year ago period was at Rs 6,211 crore.

"This quarter was significant for the financial sector. Demonetisation has not only enabled the country to head toward less cash but also facilitate a shift from physical to financial savings.

"We have always believed that the inherent advantages of digitisation like convenience, reach and efficiency would be imperative for a sector like insurance," said Sandeep Batra, Executive Director ICICI Prudential Life.

The company's strategy of focusing on increasing margin through higher protection business yielded an increase in value of new business (VNB) margin to 9.7 per cent for nine months ended December 31, 2016, from 8 per cent in the year- ago period on 122.1 per cent growth of protection mix, he added.

"We would continue to focus on protection business as we believe that there still exists a significant need for protection in India," Batra said.

The value of new business for the April-December period of the current fiscal was Rs 421 crore, as against Rs 412 crore in same period year ago.

Stocks of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance started trading on bourses in September 2016, and this is the second time that the company, the first amongst private sector insurers to be listed, has come out with its quarterly results.

ICICI Prudential Life is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential Corporation Holdings of the UK.

It is the first private sector life insurer to cross Rs 1 trillion mark for assets under management (AUM) as on December 31, 2016 at Rs 1.14 lakh crore.

Stock of the company closed 0.14 per cent down at Rs 359.35 on BSE.