LIC share hits 52-week high on strong Q3 show

Shares of state-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) surged as high as 5.8% in the early morning trade today after the company reported robust earnings in the October-December quarter of the FY 2023-24. The LIC stock opened a 4.4% gap up and hit its 52-week high of ₹1,175 on the BSE, which propelled LIC's m-cap to ₹6.97 lakh crore. At the current share price, the LIC stock is trading a 111.59% up from its one-year low of ₹530.20 touched on March 29, 2023.

LIC's share has seen a significant rally in the past three months. In the past month alone, the scrip has surged 31.47%, while it recorded a 69.77% rally in the past six months. On a year-to-date and one-year basis, the stock has risen 27.39% and 78.28%, respectively.

LIC's net standalone profit surged 49% year-on-year to ₹9,444 crore in Q3 FY24. During the same quarter last year, LIC's profit was recorded at ₹6,334 crore. The company's net premium rose 5% YoY to ₹1.17 lakh crore against ₹ 1.11 lakh crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, LIC's net profit and premium surged 19% and 9%, respectively.

During the said quarter, the value of LIC's new business rose 46% to ₹2,634 crore on a net basis against ₹1,801 crore in the year-ago period. LIC's net VNB margin was recorded at 20%, up from 14.6% in the year-ago period. The LIC group premium, however, was down 20% during Q3 FY24.

The LIC says its board has declared the payment of an interim dividend of ₹4 per equity share of the face value of ₹10/- each, for FY24.

Siddhartha Mohanty, chairperson, LIC, says: “Our consistent and focused approach towards diversifying and changing our product mix is now yielding results at a faster pace.”

LIC’s profit for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, was ₹26,913 crore. The current period profit includes an amount of ₹21,461 crore about the accretions on the available solvency margin, transferred from non-par funds to shareholders' accounts.

In terms of market share, LIC says it tops the chart at 58.90%. The total premium for nine months ended December 31, 2023, was ₹3,22,776 crore as compared to ₹3,42,244 in the previous year period.

LIC says a total of 1,25,56,046 policies were sold in the individual segment in the said period, compared to 1,28,90,843 policies sold in the year-ago period. The value of new business (VNB) for nine months came out to be ₹5,938 crore vs ₹5,478 crore in the year-ago period, a growth of 8.40%.

LIC’s assets under management (AUM) as of Q3 FY24 increased to ₹49,66,371 crore vs ₹44,34,940 crore on December 31, 2022, up 11.98% YoY. The company’s net NPAs in the policyholders fund was ₹8.01 crore as of December 31, 2023, against ₹10.94 crore in the year-ago period.