Net premium income during the quarter increased by 31.7% YoY to Rs 7,538.48 crore. However, income from investments (net) declined by 20.4% to Rs 6,963.56 crore in the first quarter.

Profit before tax in Q1 FY22 stood at Rs 306.73 crore, down 32% over Q1 FY21. The Value of New Business (VNB) increased by 40% to Rs 408 crore in Q1 FY22 as against Rs 291 crore in Q1 FY21.

Assets under Management (AuM) increased by 30% to Rs 1,81,272 crore in Q1 FY22 compared with Rs 1,39,975 crore in Q1 FY21.

The company's networth has improved 18% to Rs 8,778 crore in Q1 FY22 from Rs 7,448 crore in Q1 FY21.

Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, said: “Against the backdrop of disruption in business on account of localised lockdowns, and surge in cases during the second wave, we recorded 22% growth and market share of 17.8% in private sector in terms of Individual Weighted Received Premium (WRP). We clocked 40% growth in terms of value of new business and we achieved a New Business Margin of 26.2% in Q1.

Our product mix continues to remain balanced and our annuity business witnessed strong growth of 61% in this quarter. In comparison to Q1 of last fiscal, the Company clocked higher renewal collections, with 13th month persistency improving from 87% to 90%.

In the quarter gone by, we witnessed a steep rise in death claims, with peak claims in wave 2 at around 3-4 times of the peak claim volumes in the first wave. We paid over 70,000 claims in Q1. The gross and net claims provided for amounted to Rs 1,598 crore and Rs 956 crore, respectively. Based on our current claims experience, we have set up an additional reserve of Rs 700 crore to service the claims intimations expected to be received.

Our endeavour is to promptly settle every bonafide claim. Our Profit after Tax stands at Rs 302 crore (33% lower than Q1 FY21), on the back of higher claims reserving towards heightened claims intimation expected in Q2 and Q3. The strength of our balance sheet and back book surplus has enabled us to absorb the shock of heightened claims, whilst continuing to deliver growth.

With signs of the second wave receding, over the past month, we have seen a gradual pick-up in economic activity, across parts of the country. We see greater customer engagement and an increased interest in life insurance policies.”

On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit declined 40.2% to Rs 269.55 crore on 0.6% rise in total income to Rs 14,605.87 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

HDFC Life Insurance Company is a life insurance entity promoted by HDFC, India's leading housing finance institution and Standard Life Aberdeen, a global investment company.

The scrip fell 2.77% to end at Rs 678.60 on the BSE today.