ICICI Pru Life profit up 28% as VNB margin hits 26.7%
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a 28% jump in first-quarter profit driven by a sharp expansion in new business margins, while announcing a planned name change to drop "Prudential" from its title.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance posted a standalone profit of ₹386 crore for the April-June quarter, a 27.8% increase from a year earlier. The earnings growth was driven by higher shareholders’ income, improved surplus generation from the in-force policy book, and reduced strain from new business. Shares rallied 3.74% to ₹523.05 on the BSE following the release.
The most significant metric for market professionals was the expansion in value of new business (VNB) margin, which jumped 220 basis points year-on-year to 26.7%. Absolute VNB rose 24.9% to ₹571 crore. This indicates the insurer is successfully capturing more profitable business rather than merely driving top-line premium volume.
This margin improvement stems from a structural shift toward higher-yielding protection policies. Overall protection annualised premium equivalent (APE) surged 45.7%, with the retail segment growing 60.4% to ₹596 crore, while savings APE stood at ₹1,540 crore. This marks the third straight quarter of retail protection growth exceeding 40%, a trend the company attributes to recent goods and services tax (GST) reforms.
Total premium collections grew 14.5% to ₹10,251 crore, supported by a 21.3% increase in new business premium to ₹4,866 crore. Net premium rose 14.7% to ₹9,749 crore. Assets under management stood at ₹3.34 lakh crore at the end of June, up 2.9% from a year ago.
Retail new business sum assured grew 45.9% to ₹1.13 lakh crore, pushing total in-force sum assured to ₹48.06 lakh crore. Expanding the protection book did weigh slightly on near-term operating efficiency, with the total cost-to-premium ratio edging up to 21.8% from 21.2%. The rise in costs is a direct result of the higher protection business mix.
Alongside the earnings, the board approved a proposal to rename the company 'ICICI Life Insurance Limited', subject to relevant approvals. “Our business continues to be on growth trajectory, operating as usual, and we remain focused on expanding our reach, enhancing customer value, and capitalising on the significant opportunities presented by India’s growing life insurance market," said Anup Bagchi, MD and CEO.
