BW Real 500: LIC: Demonstrating Resilience For 6 Decades

India’s largest life insurer LIC had a good run in FY 2022-23. For the entire FY23 fiscal, LIC's total premium income clocked a healthy 11 per cent growth at Rs 4,74,005 crore compared to Rs 4,27,419 crore in FY22. LIC held its leadership position in first year premium income (FYPI) in India with a market share of 62.58 per cent in FY23. The FYPI for LIC stood at Rs 2.32 lakh crore.

Commenting on the numbers, Siddhartha Mohanty, Chairperson, LIC said, “Our results demonstrate the resilience of our business, built in every nook and corner of the country, over a period of more than six decades. Our efforts towards enhancing the share of non-par products in the overall product mix are bearing fruits."

During the fiscal year LIC settled a total of 225.5 lakh with claim payouts totalling Rs 2.10 lakh crore. During FY 2022-23, 137.96 lakh individuals were insured for the first time for the total sum assured of Rs 3.91 lakh crore. Of this, the new business from rural areas amounted to sum assured of Rs 1.16 lakh crore for 45,44,516 policies.

Robust Performance
While the net profit for FY23 zoomed 800 per cent to Rs 36,397.40 crore as compared to Rs 4,043.12 crore for the previous year, this growth in net profit in FY23 comprised of an amount of Rs 27,240.75 crore (net of tax) pertaining to the accretion on the available solvency margin, transferred from Non Par fund to shareholders account.

Further, on an Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE) basis, the total premium was Rs 56,682 crore in FY23 as compared to Rs 50,390 crore in FY22, representing a growth of 12.49 per cent year on year. During the fiscal 2022-23, 68.22 per cent (Rs 38,667 crore) was accounted for by the individual business and 32 per cent (Rs 18,015 crore) by the group business.

The assets under management (AUM) increased to Rs 43.97 lakh crore as on March 31, 2023 as compared to Rs 40.85 lakh crore as on March 31, 2022, registering an increase of 7.65 per cent. The gross value of new business (VNB) for FY23 also increased 16.46 per cent to Rs 11,553 crore as against Rs 9,920 crore for the previous year.

“The regulatory initiatives towards insurance for all by 2047 will present opportunities to grow for the sector and we intend to participate in that growth. As we move forward to grow our business further, we will endeavour to create superior value for all our stakeholders. Finally, we thank all our policyholders, agents, employees and shareholders for maintaining their faith in us,” Mohanty had said at the time of discussing the annual results.

Continued Growth
During the current fiscal as well, LIC has been clocking incessant growth. For the nine months ended December 31, 2023, LIC recorded a net profit of Rs 26,913 crore. In the same period, in previous fiscal, the net profit stood at Rs 22,970 crore. Commenting on the latest financial performance, Mohanty said, “This is just the beginning. A lot of scope for improvement is still there in certain areas. We are working hard on it and definitely this performance will be sustainable in the coming days.” Going forward, LIC will make continuous improvement in three areas of product mix, channel mix and technology, he added.