Indian insurer SBI Life's Q2 profit rises on higher investment income

Sbi Life Insurance

23/10/2024 11:01

BENGALURU, Oct 23 (Reuters) - India's SBI Life Insurance
Company  SBIL.NS  reported a nearly 40% year-on-year rise in
second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher investment
income and sustained demand for insurance products.
    SBI Life said its profit rose to 5.29 billion rupees ($62.92
million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, from 3.8 billion rupees
a year earlier.
    Net premium income rose 1% to 202.66 billion rupees, while
investment income more than doubled to 197.53 billion rupees.
    SBI Life's annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, a key
metric that gives annualised total value of all single premium
and recurring premium policies, rose 9% to 90.3 billion rupees
for the half-year ended Sept. 30. 
    The insurer's value of new business (VNB), or expected
profit from new policies, rose 2% to 24.2 billion rupees for the
half-year.
    A strong equity market has boosted demand for market- or
unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) in recent quarters. 
    ULIPs accounted for 63% of SBI Life's overall product mix
for April-September, up from 56% a year earlier.
    This resulted in the contraction of VNB margins for SBI Life
to 26.8% for the half-year from 28.6% a year ago.
    Peers HDFC Life  HDFL.NS  and ICICI Prudential  ICIR.NS 
also reported a drop in VNB margins for the half-year.  
    Shares of SBI Life were up around 1% after the results.

($1 = 84.0725 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((Nishit.Navin@thomsonreuters.com;))