Net premium income increased by 11% YoY to Rs 14,289.66 crore during the period under review.

The life insurance company's standalone net profit declined 11.2% to Rs 1,207.69 crore on a 19.1% increase in net premium income to Rs 45,396.46 crore in FY22 over FY21.

The company covered 54 million lives in FY22, registering an increase of 36% over FY21. It settled close to 3.9 lakh claims during FY22. Gross and net claims were at Rs 5,804 crore and Rs 4,328 crore respectively for FY22. As on 31 March 2022, it carred reserves of Rs 55 crore into FY23 as a prudent measure towards Covid.

New business margin for FY22 was 27.4%, as against 26.1% for FY21. Further, the value of new business for FY22 Rs 2,675 crore, 22% higher than FY21.

The company's embedded value (EV), as on 31 March 2022, was Rs 30,048 crore. Operating return on EV, after factoring excess mortality reserve or EMR created during FY22, was at 16.6% and without EMR at 19.0% as against 18.5% for FY21.

The company's board has recommended a dividend of Rs. 1.70 per share, translating to a payout of about 30% of its PAT, in line with the dividend payout ratio of FY21 and earlier.

Solvency as on 31 March 2022, stood at 176%, post the cash payout of Rs 726 crore to Exide Industries, as part-consideration for the acquisition of Exide Life.

Commenting on the FY22 performance, Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO said “We clocked a growth of 16% in individual WRP in FY22 with a market share of 14.8% and 9.3% in the private and overall sector respectively. We continue to deliver consistent all-round performance and be ranked amongst the top three life insurers in the industry.

Padalkar said, "Despite very trying times during the 2 year pandemic, our 2 year CAGR of 17% was almost 2 times industry growth of 9%. Overall protection grew by 24% in terms of APE and 47% in terms of new business premium. This was largely led by a 55% growth in credit life new business premium, on the back of higher disbursements. On the retirement side, our annuity business recorded 24% growth vis-à-vis industry growth of 3%. Annuities now contribute over a fifth of our new business premiums, with us almost doubling our business in the last 3 years."

She further added, "All channels continued to perform well, with bancassurance growing by 13% this year and 21% based on 2 year CAGR. Proprietary distribution, which includes our agency, direct and online channels, grew by 18% this year and 11% based on 2 year CAGR, based on individual APE. Our agency channel grew by 26%. The channel added more than 40,000 agents in FY22, which is the second highest amongst private players. Our subsidiary, Exide Life recorded a healthy growth of 22% based on individual WRP in FY22, well-above the overall industry growth of 16%. Its Embedded value as on 31 March 2022, was Rs 2,910 crore. The merger process has been initiated with NCLT and is expected to be completed in the second half of this financial year. Our endeavour is to be able to remain margin neutral at the merged company level by the end of FY23 and resume margin expansion thereafter."

HDFC Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between HDFC, India's leading housing finance institution and Abrdn (Mauritius Holdings) 2006, a global investment company. HDFC Life is a leading long-term life insurance solutions provider in India, offering a range of individual and group insurance solutions that meet various customer needs such as protection, pension, savings, investment, annuity and health.

The scrip advanced 1.68% to end at Rs 549.30 on the BSE today.