GST gains, higher investment income liven up ICICI Pru Life

Synopsis

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance saw a significant 20% jump in its third-quarter net profit, reaching ₹390 crore. This growth was fueled by robust investment income and better margins after recent GST reforms on life insurance products. The company's nine-month profit also climbed 24%. The value of new business margin improved, and assets under management grew.

Mumbai: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a 20% year-on-year rise in the third-quarter net profit to ₹390 crore, paced by strong investment income and an improvement in margins following GST reforms on life insurance products.

"We strongly believe these reforms will help usher in growth and will be value accretive for all stakeholders, customers, distributors and the company," Dhiren Salian CFO ICICI Prudential Life said during a post-earnings call with analysts, on the impact of GST reforms.

Nine-month profit rose 24% to ₹992 crore. The value of new business (VNB) margin improved to 24.4% from 22.8% a year earlier, driven largely by a higher share of the protection business.

Assets under management (AUM) climbed 6.5% year-on-year to ₹3.31 lakh crore as of December 31, 2025. The solvency ratio remained at 214.8%. During the quarter, the insurer called back ₹1,200 crore of subordinated debt raised in 2020 and refinanced it with fresh issuance.

Total annualised premium equivalent (APE) rose 3.6%, with protection premiums jumping 40% after the GST cut, while annuity and group funds saw weakness.

Shares rose 0.35% to ₹682.2 on the BSE, bucking a weaker market which fell by 0.3%.

From September 22, 2025, input tax credit on individual business is no longer available. Even so, nine-month margins have been maintained at H1 levels, the management said in a call after the earnings.

GST Boost
"You have already seen the increase in business in the current quarter following the announced reforms. Everyone has benefited: customers have seen the value of zero GST, we have benefited from higher volumes, and distributors have also gained from this increase in volumes," said Salian. "We work with multiple types of partners, and our approach differs for each. Given this diversification, closing some of the commercial arrangements may take time, but we are progressively addressing them and working towards a win-win proposition for both us and our distributor partners. The fundamental point is not margins but growing the absolute business."

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