HDFC Life Q1 profit rises 12% as AUM tops 4 lakh crore
HDFC Life posted a 12% rise in first-quarter profit driven by a surge in retail protection policies and a milestone breach in assets under management, signalling a successful shift in its product mix.
HDFC Life Insurance Company reported a standalone profit of ₹611.42 crore for the April-June quarter, a 12% increase from ₹546.46 crore a year earlier. The underlying performance was stronger, with profit after tax growing 17% when excluding the impact of goods and services tax.
A key milestone for investors is the firm's assets under management crossing ₹4 lakh crore, reaching ₹4,00,870 crore for a 13% year-on-year increase. Including its wholly-owned pension fund subsidiary, total AUM now exceeds ₹5.7 lakh crore, providing a larger base for recurring investment income.
The value of new business rose 9% year-on-year to ₹879 crore. "New business margin for the quarter was 25%; excluding the impact of GST, the margin would have been 25.6% compared to 25.1% in the same period last year," said Niraj Shah, executive director and chief financial officer. "We crossed an important milestone during the quarter with assets under management crossing ₹4 lakh crore. Excluding GST impact, underlying PAT growth for the quarter stood at 17%."
The most notable operational shift for market watchers is the rapid growth in higher-margin protection products. Retail protection grew 42%, expanding its share of the retail business by nearly 200 basis points to 8%, or 11% including riders. "Our product mix also continued to improve, with non-participating savings crossing 25% of individual APE on a run-rate basis," said Vibha Padalkar, managing director and chief executive.
Overall annualized premium equivalent grew 9%, but this growth was unevenly distributed across distribution channels. "In Q1FY27, while our proprietary channels led by agency and non-bank alliances channels grew by 17%, faster than the industry, business through our bancassurance channel saw moderate growth this quarter resulting in individual APE growth of 7%," Padalkar said.
Despite the mixed channel performance, policy volumes grew in double digits, outpacing the broader industry. Retail sum assured grew 31%, keeping the insurer ranked among the top two players in that metric. The company maintained an 11.2% overall market share, with its embedded value standing at ₹65,860 crore and rolling operating return on embedded value at 14.7%.
