
Surpassing market expectations, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Wednesday reported a five-fold increase in its profit after tax.
As per a Reuters report, LIC's profit after tax stood at 134.28 billion rupees in the last quarter of FY23 (January to March 2023), which is a substantial increase compared to 23.72 billion rupees posted a year earlier.
To add to LIC's bumper profits, its strategic move to transfer a substantial amount of 72.99 billion rupees from its non-participating fund to the shareholders' fund has fortified its financial position. The fund stood at 272.41 billion rupees, as on March 31, 2023.
The state-owned insurer reported an even betterstandalone net profit in the first three months of 2023.
The state-owned insurer posted a standalone net profit of Rs 13,427.8 in the Q4 of 2023, which is a whopping six-fold rise from Rs 2,371.5 crorein the March quarter of 2022.
Backed by exceptional financial results, LIC has declared a final dividend of threerupees per share for the recently-concluded financial year. This announcement will be welcomed by LIC's shareholders, who have taken a 32 percent hit since the insurer was listed in May 2022.
During the fourth quarter of 2022-23, LIC experienced a year-on-year decline of 8.3 percent in standalone net premium income, amounting to Rs 1.31 lakh crore. However, on a sequential basis, the premium income showed a notable increase of 17.9 percent.
According to LIC, first-year premium declined 12.33 percent year-on-year to reach Rs 12,811.2 crore. On the other hand, the renewal premium grew 6.8 percent to reach Rs 76,009 crore.
(With inputs from Reuters)