Private Life Insurers Outpace LIC As Industry Revenue Dips In February
Life insurers' revenue fell 17% over last February to Rs 22,484 crore.
India's life insurers put up a weak show in February, with the industry witnessing a decline in revenues—both year-on-year and sequentially.
Private life insurers continued to outpace Life Insurance Corp. on revenue growth in February. HDFC Life Insurance Co. reported the highest revenue among private peers.
The industry's new business premium in February stood at Rs 22,848 crore, according to provisional data released by the Life Insurance Council. It's a 17% decline over February last year, but a 15% rise over February 2020.
The 17% year-on-year decline came with a 15% fall in the total number of policies sold.
On an annualised premium equivalent basis—bringing the single lump-sum premium received at par with non-single or regular premium received over a period of time—it is 1% lower than February last year. However, the retail weighted received premium was 10% higher over last year.
Sequentially, the absolute revenue was down 14% from Rs 26,424 crore in January. The annualised premium equivalent or the weighted average declined 7% with a 4% fall in retail weighted received premium. There was also a sequential decline of 10% in the number of policies sold over January.
Private Insurers' Performance
The new business premium of private insurers was Rs 10,968 crore in February. This was 10% higher year-on-year, while it fell 1% sequentially.
The annualised premium equivalent rose 13% year-on-year, but declined 2% sequentially.
Its retail WRP was 18% higher over last year and up 1% over January.
Here's How India's Listed Insurers Fared In February:
LIC
LIC's revenue was Rs 11,879 crore in February.
New business premium declined 32% over February last year and 22% over January.
The APE fell 19% and 14% year-on-year and month-on-month, respectively.
The retail WRP also took a hit. It fell 3% over last February and was 15% lower than January retail WRP.
HDFC Life Insurance
HDFC Life Insurance Co., including Exide Life Insurance, reported the highest revenue among private peers in February.
Revenue rose 5% year-on-year to Rs 2,273 crore. Sequentially, it fell 3%.
On an APE basis, it rose 21% over February 2022 and remained almost unchanged over January 2023.
The retail WRP rose 27% as against last year and 1% over the previous month.
SBI Life Insurance Co.
The new business premium rose 7% year-on-year to Rs 2,002 crore in February, but fell 22% sequentially.
On an overall weighted average basis, it rose 2% over February 2022, but fell 28% over the previous month.
The retail WRP was almost unchanged compared to last year, but fell 32% over January.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co.
The new business premium in February stood at Rs 1,330 crore—a 1% decline year-on-year and 8% decline over last month.
On a weighted average basis, it was almost unchanged over last year, but fell 14% over January.
However, the retail WRP reported a growth of 7% year-on-year and 15% over the previous month.