HDFC Life Q4 profit up 12 pc to Rs.358 cr

New Delhi: HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd on Tuesday reported 12.4 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 357.52 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

The private sector life insurer had posted a net profit of Rs 317.94 crore for the year-ago period.

During January-March, total income stood at Rs 16,054.94 crore, as against Rs 19,191.32 crore in the same quarter of 2020-21, HDFC Life said in a regulatory filing.

Of this, the net premium income was Rs 14,289.66 crore, up from Rs 12,868.01 crore in the year-ago period.

For the full year 2021-22, net profit was down to Rs 1,208 crore, as against Rs 1,360 crore in the previous fiscal year.

"PAT for FY22 was at Rs 1,208 crore, a decline of 11 per cent versus FY21 due to higher mortality reserve created during the year. Post wave 2 (pandemic), our PAT in Q3 and Q4 improved steadily, with PAT for Q4 registering a 12 per cent year-on-year growth," Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, HDFC Life said.

Total premium during the year, however, rose 19 per cent to Rs 45,963 crore from Rs 38,583 crore.

HDFC Life said its assets under management (AUM) crossed Rs 2 lakh crore mark, clocking an yearly growth of 17 per cent.

"We delivered a value of new business (VNB) for FY22 of Rs 2,675 crore, 22 per cent higher than FY21. Our VNB has grown at a 24 per cent CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) over the past 5 years," it said. VNB refers to present value of the future profits associated with new business written during the year.

Padalkar said the company clocked a growth of 16 per cent in individual WRP in FY22 with a market share of 14.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent in the private and overall sector respectively. Weighted received premium (WRP) is the sum of first year premium received during the year and 10 per cent of single premiums



including top-up premiums.

"We continue to deliver consistent all-round performance and be ranked amongst the top three life insurers in the industry. Despite very trying times during the 2 year pandemic, our 2 year CAGR of 17 per cent was almost two-times industry growth of 9 per cent. Overall protection grew by 24 per cent in terms of APE (Annualized Premium Equivalent) and 47 per cent in terms of new business premium.

"This was largely led by a 55 per cent growth in credit life new business premium, on the back of higher disbursements. On the retirement side, our annuity business recorded 24 per cent growth vis- -vis industry growth of 3 per cent. Annuities now contribute over a fifth of our new business premiums, with us almost doubling our business in the last 3 years," she added.

The company said it has received in-principle approval at the board meeting for raising of funds up to Rs 350 crore by issuing debt instruments in one or more tranches on a private placement basis.

The life insurer said its board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 1.70 per equity share for 2021-22 which is subject to approval of the shareholders in the ensuing annual general meeting.

Further, the company said that its subsidiary, Exide Life recorded a healthy growth of 22 per cent based on individual WRP in FY22, well-above the overall industry growth of 16 per cent.

"Its embedded value as on March 31, 2022, was Rs 2,910 crore. The merger process has been initiated with NCLT and is expected to be completed in the second half of this financial year. Our endeavour is to be able to remain margin neutral at the merged company level by the end of FY23 and resume margin expansion thereafter," HDFC Life said.

HDFC Life stock settled at Rs 549.50 on BSE, up 1.71 per cent from previous close.