ICICI Lombard Q3 Results | Net profit jumps 68%, gross premium income hit by new accounting norms

ICICI Lombard General Insurance posted a 67.9% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit for third quarter at ₹724.4 crore, compared to ₹431.5 crore in the same quarter last year.

The profit boost was largely supported by a robust 155% growth in capital gains, which stood at ₹276 crore in Q3 FY25 versus ₹108 crore in Q3 FY24.

The company’s combined ratio — a key profitability metric — improved to 102.7% from 103.6% in Q3 FY24, reflecting better operating efficiencies. Conventionally, a lower combined ratio is better.

The return on average equity (ROAE) rose significantly to 21.5%, up from 15.3% a year earlier.

Gross premium income declined marginally by 0.3% YoY to ₹6,214 crore from ₹6,230 crore. This was primarily due to a regulatory shift implemented by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in October 2024.

Under the new IRDAI rule, non-life insurers can still provide long-term policies; however, they must now report only one year’s premium at a time. Previously, insurers were able to book the entire premium amount for long-term policies upfront, showing it as a single amount in their GWP. Now, this figure must be spread across the policy duration, with only the annual premium recorded each year.

Also read: SBI Life Insurance Q3 Results: New business premium grows 8%, margins meet estimates

"With effect from October 1, 2024 Long-term Products are accounted on a 1/n basis, as mandated by IRDAI, hence Q3 & 9M FY2025 are not comparable with prior years," the company stated.

Adjusting for this change, the gross direct premium income (GDPI) showed a 4.8% growth for the quarter, demonstrating underlying business strength. For the nine months ended December 31, 2024, the GDPI grew 10.3% YoY to ₹20,623 crores, outpacing the industry growth of 7.8%. Excluding the 1/n impact, GDPI growth would have been 11.9%.

The company’s solvency ratio, which measures financial strength, stood at 2.36x as of December 31, 2024, above the regulatory minimum of 1.5x but lower than the 2.65x reported in the previous quarter.

The earnings were announced post the market hours. ICICI Lombard shares on Friday (January 17) ended at ₹1,947.15 on the NSE, up by ₹2.04%.