MUMBAI: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company on Tuesday reported a 17 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 340 crore for the quarter ending March, 2018, as against a profit of Rs 408 crore a year ago.
Its total income too fell 49 per cent to Rs 7,137 crore compared to Rs 14,117 crore last year. However, the company maintained that the quarterly earnings aren’t indicative of the full year’s expected performance, considering the seasonality of the industry.
The disappointing dip in profit comes amid reports of market regulator SEBI seeking details of investments made by ICICI Prudential in ICICI Securities Ltd. As per the public disclosures, ICICI Prudential bought around 36 per cent of the shares earmarked for anchor investors during ICICI Securities’ public issue early this month. “The company registered a robust and well-rounded performance on all parameters,” said Sandeep Batra, Executive Director, ICICI Prudential.
The profitability of new business written, as measured in the value of new business, increased by 93 per cent to Rs 1,286 crore in FY18 from Rs 666 crore in FY17. “This robust growth is attributable to the growth in both savings and protection APE (annualised premium equivalent) as well as the improvements in persistency and cost efficiency,” it said.
Embedded value, which is the current net worth of the company plus the present value of all future profits to shareholders from the existing book, rose 16 per cent to Rs 18,788 crore in FY18, up from Rs 16,184 crore in FY17.
Meanwhile, the private insurer declared an interim dividend of Rs 3.40 per share, including a special dividend of Rs 1.1 per share, subject to requisite approvals.