LIC declares interim dividend of ₹4 per share, net profit jumps 49% to ₹9,441 crore

The total dividend outgo for LIC is ₹2,529 crore. Given the government's ownership stake of 96.5%, it will receive ₹2,440 crore. Shareholders, excluding the government, will receive a dividend of ₹89 crore.

The Life Insurance Corporation reported a 49% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at ₹9,441 crore for the third quarter that ended December 31, 2023. In the corresponding quarter last year, LIC posted a net profit of ₹6,334 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The total annualised premium equivalent (APE) rose 7% to ₹13,163 crore as against ₹12,317 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.  The Value of New Business (VNB) jumped 46% to ₹2,634 crore as against ₹1,801 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal. The VNB margin, a key indicator of profitability, was up 541 bps at 20.01% as against 14.6% in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.

On an Annualized Premium Equivalent (APE) basis, the total premium was ₹35,790 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2023. Of this, 65.67% (₹23,503 crore) was accounted for by the Individual Business and 34.33% (₹12,287 crore) by the Group Business. Within the Individual Business, the share of Par products on an APE basis was 85.96% (₹20,203 crore) and the balance of 14.04% (₹3,299 crore) was due to Non-Par products.

The Non-Par APE has increased from ₹2,213 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2022, to ₹3,299 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, registering a growth of 49.08%. Therefore, our Non-Par share of Individual APE which was 9.45% for the nine months ended December 31, 2022, has grown to 14.04% for the nine months ended December 31, 2023.

The Value of New Business (VNB) for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, was ₹5,938 crore as compared to ₹5,478 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2022, registering a growth of 8.40%.

The net VNB margin for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, was 16.6% as compared to 14.6% for the nine months ended December 31, 2022. The Solvency Ratio as of December 31, 2023, improved to 1.93 as against 1.85 on December 31, 2022.

The Assets Under Management (AUM) increased to ₹49,66,371 crore as of December 31, 2023, as compared to ₹44,34,940 crore on December 31, 2022, registering an increase of 11.98% year on year. The overall expense ratio for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, was 15.28% as compared to 15.26% for the period ended December 31, 2022.

The Yield on Investments on policyholders' funds excluding unrealised gains was 9.14% for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, as against 8.58% for the period ended December 31, 2022. The Net NPA in the policyholder's fund was ₹8.01 crore as of December 31, 2023, as compared to ₹10.94 crore as of December 31, 2022.

Shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India ended at ₹1,106.25, up by ₹61.25, or 5.86% on the BSE.