LIC Q4 net profit surges over 5-fold to Rs 13,191 cr

NEW DELHI: Insurance behemoth LIC on Wednesday posted a more than five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 13,191 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023.

The insurer had earned a profit of Rs 2,409 crore in the same quarter a year earlier.

However, the total income of the insurer during the March quarter declined to Rs 2,01,022 crore from Rs 2,15,487 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, LIC said in a regulatory filing.

LIC’s income from first-year premium also came down to Rs 12,852 crore against Rs 14,663 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.

The income from renewal premiums in the reporting period rose to Rs 76,328 crore compared to Rs 71,473 crore a year ago, while the single premium decreased to Rs 43,252 crore from Rs 58,251 crore.

For the entire financial year 2022-23, LIC registered a multi-fold rise in net profit to Rs 35,997 crore from Rs 4,125 crore in the previous financial year.

The board of LIC has recommended a final dividend of Rs 3 per equity share with a face value of Rs 10 each for the year ended March 31, 2023.

Shares of the LIC closed at Rs 593.55 or 0.61 per cent higher on the BSE.

Last year, the government raised Rs 20,557 crore by diluting its 3.5 per cent stake in the LIC through the initial public offering (IPO), the country’s biggest ever.

LIC shares were listed at a discount of 8.62 per cent at Rs 867.20 apiece on BSE over the issue price of Rs 949 a share.

Shares of the LIC closed at Rs 593.55, down 0.61 per cent on the BSE. Investors have lost nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore since the listing of shares.

The government sold over 22.13 crore shares or a 3.5 per cent stake in LIC through the IPO. The price band of the issue was Rs 902-949 a share. However, shares were allocated to investors on May 12, 2022, at the upper end of the price band.