LIC Q3 results: Net profit surges multi-fold to Rs 6,334 cr

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation on Thursday reported multi-fold surge in net profit at Rs 6,334 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 as against Rs 235 crore in the year-ago period as it recognised a gain due to changes in its accounting policy.

The insurer's net premium income increased 15% to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in Q3FY23 as compared to Rs 97,620 crore in Q3FY22.

On Thursday, the firm's scrip on BSE closed 0.5% higher at Rs 613.5.

LIC's income from investments rose to Rs 84,889 crore from Rs 76,574.24 crore a year ago, the company said in a stock exchange filing. 

Its investments into the crisis-ridden Adani Group has been under tremendous criticism even though the value of the investment of close to Rs 36,000 crore are still in the green despite those shares losing almost 60 per cent of their value since January 25.

"We continue to remain focussed on creating a portfolio mix to optimise value for all stakeholders, and in that context, increasing the proportion of Non-par business in a consistent and profitable manner. In the Individual business, on an APE basis, the share of Non Par Business has increased to 9.45 per cent for the nine months ended December 31st, 2022, as against 7.12 per cent for full year ended March 31st, 2022. 

"While the relative growth of various products within the Non-par bucket will vary within each quarter, we believe we are firmly on our way to achieving the target product mix changes. We think the market is showing signs of robust growth and we are confident of retaining and also growing our market share going forward," said M R Kumar, Chairperson, LIC.

The insurer, which is largely reliant on an army of agents, said policies sold in the nine months ended Dec. 31 rose nearly 2% year-on-year to 12.9 million.

Its solvency ratio, the measure of an insurer's ability to meet its long-term debt obligations, rose to 1.85 from 1.77 a year earlier.

The company's gross value of new business (VNB), which measures expected profit from new premiums and is a key gauge for future growth, stood at Rs 7,187 crore, while VNB margins came in at 19.1%.

LIC, which has made investments worth over $4 billion - or about 1% of its assets under management - in Adani Group companies, has maintained that its customers need not worry about the exposure to Adani firms.