The top nine non-LIC players record a modest 2 percent growth in half yearly profits

ICICI Prudential emerged as the most profitable life insurer with a net profit of Rs. 781 crore in HY 2014-15.

The profitability of top nine private life insurance companies, in terms of their assets under management, grew by a paltry 2% in the first half of the financial year.

The Profit after Tax (PAT) of the top nine private life insurers grew marginally by 2% to Rs.2,687 crore in HYFY 2014-15 as against Rs.2,643 crore in the corresponding period last year.

All attempts to download LIC’s PAT figure from its website went futile. Hence, we have put its first quarter PAT figure in the table given below.

PAT of top 10 life insurers

Source: Company websites Rs. cr

*LIC’s first quarter PAT

The flat growth in profitability was primarily due to muted sales of traditional policies & pension products and higher persistency ratio, said experts. Among the top nine private insurers, six life insurers saw an increase in their PAT.

ICICI Prudential emerged as the most profitable life insurer. It’s PAT for HYFY2014-15 stood at Rs.781 crore, up 4% from last year at Rs.750 crore.

This was followed by SBI Life and HDFC Standard Life which recorded a growth of 6% and 7% in their PAT respectively. While SBI Life clocked a net profit of Rs. 459 crore in HYFY2014-15, HDFC Standard Life’s PAT stood at Rs.454 crore.

Similarly, the profits of Max Life rose from Rs. 212 crore in HYFY 2013-14 to Rs. 242 crore in HYFY2014-15. Tata AIA’s profit grew from Rs.181 crore in HY2013-14 to Rs.236 crore in FY2014-15. Kotak Life’s PAT too increased from Rs. 20 crore in FYHY2013-14 to Rs.30 crore in HYFY2014-15.

While Reliance and Birla Sun Life registered a steep decline in their PAT, Bajaj Allianz recorded a modest decline in its PAT.

Experts said that profitability is a function of underwriting efficiencies and building good renewals. Higher persistency and more efficient underwriting can lead to higher profitability, they added.