ICICI Prudential Life Q1 Results: Posts Loss Amid Rising Covid-19 Claims
ICICI Prudential Life reports a quarterly loss despite top market share in new business premium sum assured
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. posted a loss in the quarter ended June amid rising claims during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The private insurer's loss stood at Rs 185.29 crore against a profit of Rs 62.51 crore three months ago. That compares with the Rs 291.76-crore profit estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
Revenue fell 15% sequentially to Rs 16,724.05 crore. Analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg projected the metric at Rs 12,642.67 crore.
The company reported an operating loss of Rs 215.36 crore compared with Rs 112.4-crore profit a quarter ago.
Ebidta margin stood at -1.3% against the estimated 3.4%. The metric was 0.6% in the quarter ended March.
Earnings per share stood at Rs -1.29 apiece against the estimated Rs 2.7. It was Rs 0.44 in the quarter ended March.
Net premiums earned fell sequentially 44% to Rs 6,601.85 crore.
Persistency ratios by premium for the 13th, 25th, 37th, 49th and 61st months have improved on sequentially and year-on-year basis, at 86.6%, 77.6%, 70%, 65.9% and 59.9%, respectively.
Solvency ratio for the quarter ended June is 193.7%—compared with 216.8% in the three months through March.
The company's Covid-19 claims net of reinsurance stood at Rs 500 crore for the quarter ended June. It said it has created further provisions of Rs 498 crore for future claims.
“Unless the Covid-19 claims this year exceed Rs 10 billion, that is five times the net claim amount in FY 2020-21, we would not expect any further negative impact,” NS Kannan, managing director and chief executive officer, said at an earnings call.
Other Highlights (YoY)
Value of new business grew 78.1% to Rs 358 crore.
VNB margin expanded to 29.4% from 24.4%.
New business sum assured market share was 14.7%, putting it in the leadership position.
Annuity business grew 159%.
Contribution from linked savings products stood at 44%, traditional savings products at 29% and protection products at 22%.
Assets under management grew 31% to Rs 2.23 lakh crore.