LIC shares gain ahead of June quarter financial results

Life Insurance Corporation of India shares gained up to 1 per cent in morning trade Thursday ahead of the announcement of the quarterly financial results later in the day.

The board of the insurance behemoth is meeting on Thursday to consider and approve the financial results for the first quarter of FY 2023-24.

The stock opened higher and later rose further around 0.7 per cent to hit a high of Rs 648.45 per share on BSE. LIC shares have rebounded nearly 21 per cent from its 52-week low level hit on March 28, 2023. The stock is however down 14 per cent from its 52-week high level seen in December 2022.

Robust growth in profit in March quarter

The public sector insurance giant had reported a stellar 466 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 13,428 crore in the previous March quarter against Rs 2,371 crore in the year ago period.

However, its total income had dropped to Rs 2,01,022 crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 2,15,487 crore in the year-ago period as the first year premium declined.

LIC’s first-year premium income dropped to Rs 12,852 crore in Q4FY23 from Rs 14,663 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY22.

Its assets under management (AUM) had expanded 7.6 per cent to Rs 43.97 lakh crore as of March 31, 2023, from Rs 40.85 lakh crore on March 31, 2022.

The company had market leadership with 62.58 per cent market share with 16.67 per cent First Year Premium Income growth in FY23.

First year premium income drops in April-June period of FY 24

The insurance giant, however, has reported around 7 per cent decline in the first year premium income (FYPI) for the April-June period of FY24.

The FYPI declined to Rs 44837.20 crore in Q1 of FY24 from Rs 48201.00 crore in Q1 of FY23. The performance was marred by weak collections in April and May.

In April, FYPI declined 50.4 percent to Rs 5,810 crore from Rs 11,716 crore in April 2022.

The FYPI declined by 11.2 per cent to Rs 14,056 crore in May 2023 against Rs 15,840 crore in May 2022.

LIC in June reported a rebound in FYPI as the premium income grew by 20.96 per cent to Rs 24,970.82 crore compared to Rs 20,643.67 crore in June 2022.

Shares of LIC were trading 0.22 per cent higher at Rs 645.35 apiece on BSE at 11.08 AM.