Mumbai:
Even as, Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown deeply affecting the life insurers' performance,ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has recorded a 0.9 per cent year-on-year(y-o-y) rise in net profit to Rs 288 crorte in Q1-FY2021.
The company's value of new business (VNB) for Q1-FY2021 stood at Rs 201 crore with an expansion in VNB margin from 21.0 per cent in Q1-FY2020 to 24.4 per cent in Q1-FY2021.
Net premium earned (gross premium less reinsurance premium) by the company decreased by 10.6 per cent y-oy from Rs 6208 crore in Q1-FY2020 to Rs 5551 crore in Q1-FY2021. Retail renewal premium of the life insurer increased by3.3 per cent from Rs 3976 crore in Q1-FY2020 to Rs 4107 crore in Q1-FY2021.
Retail new business premium of the life insurer decreased by 40.5 per cent y-o-y from Rs 1533 crore in Q1-FY2020 to Rs 912 crore in Q1-FY2021 primarily on account of decrease in linked business.The company's group premium decreased by 11.2 per cent y-o-y from `
Rs 820 crore in Q1-FY2020 to Rs728 crore in Q1-FY2021.
The life insurer's claims and benefit payouts decreased by 28.8 per cent y-o-y to Rs 2596 crore in Q1-FY2021 primarily on account of decrease in surrender claims from Rs2849 crore in Q1-FY2020 to Rs1796 crore in Q1-FY2021.
N S Kannan,MD & CEO,ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on the way consumers perceive life insurance and protection products have therefore seen an increased demand.Even with the movement restrictions in the last quarter,the share of protection in our portfolio increased to 26 per cent of annualised premium equivalent (APE). This resulted in an expansion in the VNB margin from 21 per cent for Q1-FY2020 to 24.4 per cent for Q1-FY2021. Customers trust us to help them achieve their longterm financial goals and despite volatile markets our assets under management grew by 3.6 per cent to Rs 1.7 trillion for the quarter ended June 2020.''
“Our robust digital platform enabled us to quickly adapt to the changes in the business environment without any disruption. Besides, our end-to-end digital platform has facilitated a smooth transition of sales processes from a physical to a virtual handshake which was crucial given the lockdown.All our the existing term products are already covering Covid. Still, we will see if we can go for a separate Covid-19 long term product.'' said Kanan.
Kanan also informed that his company has reduced its manpower from 15000 to 14000 during the current fiscal.
The contribution from ULIP to the company's premium kitty has declined to 65 per cent in past one eyar. However, overall APE of the company has gone up by 44 per cent during the period. So, the premium losses caused by ULIP has been taken care by the growth in APE, said Kanan..
The life insurer has settle 69 Covid-19 claims so far and value of these claims are marginal, said Kanan..
The life insurer has entered into a bancassurance partnership with IDFC First Bank Ltd. for the distribution of its entire suite of protection and long-term savings products.