ICICI Life Q2 Profit Rises 25% to ₹374 Crore; VNB Margin at 25.4%

ICICI Life Insurance, formerly ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, reported a 25% year-on-year rise in standalone net profit to ₹374 crore for the July–September quarter (Q2 FY27), up from ₹299 crore a year earlier. The insurer announced its results on Tuesday, October 13.

Value of new business (VNB), the key gauge of profitability on fresh policies, rose 20.7% to ₹712 crore. The VNB margin improved to 25.4% from 24% in the year-ago quarter, while the annualized premium equivalent (APE) grew 16.6% to ₹2,799 crore. Net premium income increased 16.6% to ₹13,804 crore from ₹11,843 crore.

The headline numbers were slightly short of market expectations. Profit trailed the street estimate of ₹381 crore, and the VNB margin came in below the 25.79% analysts had projected, according to reports. On a sequential basis, profit was about 3% lower than the ₹386 crore posted in the June quarter.

Protection and annuity lead first-half growth

For the first half of FY27, profit after tax rose 26.5% to ₹760 crore from ₹601 crore. APE for the six months increased 15.1% to ₹4,935 crore, and VNB grew 22.3% to ₹1,283 crore. The first-half VNB margin expanded 150 basis points to 26% from 24.5%.

New business premium for the period climbed 25% to ₹11,821 crore from ₹9,456 crore. Total premium income for the half year stood at ₹24,505 crore, up 15.3%.

Higher-margin products drove the mix. Protection APE jumped 39.5% to ₹1,155 crore in the first half, with retail protection up 47.2% at ₹455 crore. Annuity APE rose 50% to ₹324 crore, while savings products, the largest segment, grew a slower 6.6% to ₹3,455 crore.

Assets under management stood at ₹3.29 lakh crore, up 2.3% from a year ago. Embedded value rose 12.2% to ₹56,669 crore. The solvency ratio was 229.9% as of September 30, well above the regulatory minimum of 150%, and the claim settlement ratio for the half year was 99.3%.

New CEO and new name

The results come at a leadership transition for the insurer. Sidharatha Mishra takes charge as managing director and chief executive officer from October 14, succeeding Anup Bagchi, the company said in an earlier exchange filing. The board had announced the change on October 2.

The company has also received regulatory approval to change its name to ICICI Life Insurance Limited, dropping the Prudential name from its corporate identity.

The steady shift towards protection and annuity products has helped the insurer expand margins even as growth in traditional savings policies has slowed.

Investors will watch how the stock reacts to the margin miss when markets open on Wednesday. The focus for the second half will be on whether Mishra can sustain double-digit APE growth while holding margins near the 26% level reached in the first half.