LIC Q3 Results: PSU insurer beats new business premium estimates, VNB margin steady

State-owned insurance giant, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) posted a 21% year-on-year (YoY) decline in new business premium (NBP) for the third quarter of FY25 at ₹43,075 crore.

Despite the drop, this figure exceeded CNBC-TV18 estimates of ₹42,406 crore, indicating resilience in LIC’s premium collections amid market challenges.

PSU insurer reported a 17% on-year rise in standalone net profit for the third quarter of FY25, coming in at ₹11,056 crore, compared to ₹9,444 crore in the same period last year. However, total income declined to ₹2,01,994 crore from ₹2,12,447 crore in Q3FY24, reflecting a dip in investment and policyholder-related earnings.

Total annualised premium equivalent (APE), a crucial measure of new policy sales, came in at ₹9,950 crore, missing Street expectations of ₹10,789 crore and marking a 24% decline from ₹13,162 crore in Q3FY24.

Within this, retail APE fell 27% YoY to ₹6,449 crore, underperforming the estimated ₹7,247 crore, reflecting weaker demand in individual policy sales.

The value of new business (VNB), which represents profitability from new policies, stood at ₹1,926 crore, surpassing analyst projections of ₹1,836 crore, though it was down 27% from ₹2,634 crore a year ago.

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Meanwhile, VNB margin remained steady at 19.36%, improving from the expected 17.02%, but contracting by 64 basis points from the previous year’s 26%.

Shares of LIC ended the session 1.56% lower at ₹815.95 on the BSE ahead of the results announcement.