HDFC Life, ICICI Pru Post Double-Digit Q1 Profit Growth

HDFC Life Insurance and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported double-digit profit growth for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, helped by higher premium collections and stronger investment income.

HDFC Life's net profit rose 11.9% from a year earlier to Rs 611 crore for the April-June period. ICICI Pru posted a 27.8% increase to Rs 386.2 crore.

Investment income at HDFC Life climbed 14.1% to Rs 16,653 crore. ICICI Pru's investment income rose 11.1% to Rs 18,500 crore.

Net premium income at HDFC Life grew 14.4% to Rs 16,548 crore. ICICI Pru's net premium income increased 14.7% to Rs 9,749 crore.

HDFC Life's annualised premium equivalent, a key measure of new business, rose 9% to Rs 3,515 crore. Its value of new business increased 8.7% to Rs 879 crore, though the VNB margin slipped to 25% from 25.1% a year earlier.

Operating expenses at HDFC Life rose 18.8% to Rs 3,871 crore, driven by a 20% jump in commission costs to Rs 2,101 crore. The insurer's solvency ratio fell to 185% as of June 30 from 192% a year earlier.

ICICI Pru's APE grew 14.6% to Rs 2,136 crore. Its VNB rose 25% to Rs 571 crore, with the VNB margin improving to 26.7% from 24.5%.

Expenses at ICICI Pru increased 17.9% to Rs 2,230 crore. Commission expenses rose 3% to Rs 1,014 crore. Its solvency ratio improved to 225.4% from 212.3%.

Both insurers are reducing their reliance on the bancassurance channel. At HDFC Life, bancassurance accounted for 57% of individual APE, down from 60% a year earlier. The agency channel's share rose to 18% from 15%, and direct channels increased to 10% from 9%.

"In Q1FY27, while our proprietary channels led by agency and non-bank alliances grew 17%, faster than the industry, business through our bancassurance channel saw moderate growth this quarter, resulting in individual APE growth of 7%," said Vibha Padalkar, managing director and CEO of HDFC Life Insurance. "We saw encouraging improvement in our counter share at partner banks as the quarter progressed, and we expect this to normalise further over the coming months."

ICICI Pru's bancassurance share of total APE fell to 27% from 30%. Partnership distribution rose to 15% from 13%, and group distribution increased to 23% from 19%.

"Protection continues to be our core focus area, and we registered a strong growth of 60.4% Y-o-Y in our retail protection business in Q1FY27, driven by the GST exemption on protection products and various company-led initiatives," said Anup Bagchi, MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. "This marks the third consecutive quarter of retail protection growth exceeding 40% following the GST reforms."

HDFC Life's stock market analysis page shows the stock trades with an Alpha Score of 57 out of 100, a Moderate label in the Financial Services sector.