LIC Profit Rises 38%, Private Players see 15% Decline

Net profit of the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation shot up 38% in 2015-16, but most private life insurers witnessed tepid growth or decline in earnings during the year. The combined net profits of 22 private life insurance companies declined 15% from Rs 5,787 crore in the previous year to Rs 4,892 crore in 2015-16.

ICICI Prudential Life, the most profitable private life insurance company, registered a 1% growth in net profit, while Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance saw an even smaller 0.3% uptick. Other biggies like SBI Life, HDFC Life and Max Life also churned out lacklustre numbers.

Observers say the new Ulip rules are behind the poor performance by private insurers. ";Earlier, lapsation of policies was accounted as profit for the insurance company. Since a lot of Ulips were lapsing, the bottom line of life insurers showed a healthy growth in profits,"; says Manoj Nagpal, CEO of Outlook Asia Capital.