The Company registered 13% rise in net premium income in Q4FY2021. The commission expenses moved up 26% and operating expense jumped 16% in Q4FY2021.

The Value of New Business (VNB) for the quarter increased 26% to Rs 591 crore with an expansion in VNB margin. Value of New Business (VNB) for FY2021 was Rs 1621 crore. With an APE of Rs 6462 crore, VNB margin was 25.1% for FY2021 as compared to 21.7% for FY2020. The increase in VNB margin is primarily on account of growth in non-linked business and increase in protection mix.

Profit before Tax (PBT) declined 64% to Rs 113.67 crore in Q4FY2021.

New business premium surged 23% to Rs 5133 crore for Q4FY2021 as compared to Rs 4176 crore for Q4FY2020. New business premium was Rs 13032 crore for FY2021 as compared to Rs 12348 crore for FY2020. APE was Rs 6462 crore for FY2021 as compared to Rs 7381 crore for FY2020.

New business sum assured was Rs 205184 crore for Q4FY2021, a growth of 22.1% as compared to Rs 168102 crore for Q4FY2020.

The new business sum assured was Rs 616684 crore for FY2021, a growth of 8.0% as compared to Rs 571184 crore for FY2020.

Significantly, the Company was able to strengthen its position as the private sector market leader in terms of new business sum assured, with a market share of 13% in 11M-FY2021, up from 11.8% for FY2020.

The Company offers a range of products across protection and savings solutions to meet the specific needs of customers. During FY2021, the protection APE was Rs 1046 crore resulting in an improvement in share of APE from 15.1% for FY2020 to 16.2% in FY2021. Retail traditional savings APE grew by 61.2% from Rs 1246 crore in FY2020 to Rs 2008 crore in FY2021, resulting in an improvement in share of APE from 16.9% in FY2020 to 31.1% in FY2021.

The Company has strong focus on improving the quality of business and customer retention which is reflected in 13th month persistency ratios. Our 13th month and 61st month persistency at 11M-FY2021 stand at 84.8% and 58.3% respectively.

The cost to Total weighted received premium (TWRP) ratio stood at 14.8% in FY2021 compared to 15.9% in FY2020. The cost to TWRP for the savings business stood at 9.6% in FY2021 compared to 10.4% in FY2020.

The total assets under management of the Company was Rs 214218 crore at end March 2021, a growth of 40.0% over Rs 152968 crore end March 2020. This is an outcome of the growth in new business, strong persistency and robust fund management. The Company had a debt-equity mix of 55:45 at end March 2021. 96.8% of the debt investments are in AAA rated securities and government bonds.

The Company's net worth was Rs 9119 crore at end March 2021. The solvency ratio was 216.8% against regulatory requirement of 150%.

The focus on maintaining Balance Sheet resilience through a robust risk management mechanism and investment policy has helped ensure zero Non Performing Assets (NPAs) since inception and across market cycles.

Embedded Value at end March 2021 was Rs 29106 crore compared to Rs 23030 crore at end March 2020, a growth of 26.4%, led by 29.0% growth in the VIF. The embedded value per share stood at Rs 202.7 per share end March 2021

N S Kannan, MD & CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said; "Despite the disruptions caused by Covid-19, we were able to demonstrate resilience in our operations. In this quarter, APE grew by 27% year-on-year with the month of March posting the best ever monthly sales for the Company in any year since inception.

We were able to capitalise on opportunities to build a well diversified product portfolio, on the back of 114.1% and 214.7% year-on-year growth in the traditional savings and annuity product segments respectively in Q4FY2021. The strong performance was driven in equal measure by over 100 valuable partnerships forged this year, as part of our strategy to deepen and widen distribution.

As a result, VNB grew by 26% year-on-year to Rs 591 crore for Q4. The VNB margin for the year improved to 25.1%, while the Embedded Value also grew 26.4% to Rs 29106 crore during the year.

Throughout the pandemic-affected year, we focused on putting in place the building blocks for growth. Our resilient Balance Sheet with zero NPAs since inception, robust risk management strategies and a strong solvency ratio of 217% provide a solid foundation for future growth. Together with our growth momentum in Q4 and our well diversified product and distribution mix, we believe we are well poised to achieve our stated objective to double our FY2019 VNB by FY2023, i.e. in 4 years."

Financial Performance FY2021

The Company's profit before tax was Rs 1081 crore for FY2021, a growth of 1.1% as compared to Rs 1069 crore for FY2020. Tax charge increased from Nil in FY2020 to Rs 121 crore in FY2021 on account of withdrawal of dividend exemption and no final dividend paid by Company for FY2020, resulting in a higher taxable surplus. The Company's profit after tax was Rs 960 crore for the year ended March 2021 as compared to Rs 1069 crore for the year ended March 2020. Profit after tax decreased from Rs 1069 crore in FY2020 to Rs 960 crore in FY2021.

Net premium earned (gross premium less reinsurance premium) increased by 6.4% from Rs 32879 crore in FY2020 to Rs 34973 crore in FY2021.

Total investment income of Rs 48158 crore in FY2021 comprised income of Rs 42153 crore (Investment income loss FY2020: Rs 16072 crore) under the unit-linked portfolio and an investment income of Rs 6004 crore (FY2020: Rs 3955 crore) under the non-unit funds. The investment income under unit-linked portfolio is directly offset by a change in valuation of policyholder liabilities. Unit linked portfolio investment income increased from loss of Rs 16072 crore in FY2020 to income of Rs 42153 crore in FY2021 primarily on account of increase in market value of the securities held.

Other income increased from Rs 81 crore in FY2020 to Rs 94 crore in FY2021.

Total expenses (including commission) decreased by 4.1% from Rs 5125 crore in FY2020 to Rs 4921 crore in FY2021. Commission expense (including rewards) decreased by 5.4% from Rs 1586 crore in FY2020 to Rs 1500 crore in FY2021. New business commission (including single premium) has decreased from Rs 1140 crore in FY2020 to Rs 1032 crore in FY2021. Renewal commission has increased from Rs 382 crore in FY2020 to Rs 398 crore in FY2021.

Operating expenses of Rs 3416 crore in FY2021 (FY2020: Rs 3539 crore) comprised of unit fund expenses (including goods and service tax on linked charges) amounting to Rs 669 crore (FY2020: Rs 664 crore) under the unit-linked portfolio. The unit fund expenses under unit-linked portfolio is directly offset by a change in valuation of policyholder liabilities. Operating expenses of other than unit linked portfolio decreased by 4.4% from Rs 2875 crore in FY2020 to Rs 2747 crore in FY2021 primarily on account of decrease in expenses relating to employee remuneration and welfare benefits, travel and business conferences expenses.

Claims and benefit payouts increased by 16.8% from Rs 19377 crore in FY2020 to Rs 22641 crore in FY2021 primarily on account of increase in surrenders/withdrawals and death and maturity claims. The Company had COVID-19 claims (net of reinsurance) of Rs 215 crore.

Change in actuarial liability, including funds for future appropriation, increased from Rs (4859) crore in FY2020 to Rs 54445 crore in FY2021. Fund reserve, which represents liability carried on account of units held by unit linked policyholders, increased from Rs (13861) crore in FY2020 to Rs 41464 crore in FY2021. The increase in fund reserves is primarily due to higher investment income in the unit linked portfolio. Non-unit reserve increased from Rs 8803 crore in FY2020 to Rs 12860 crore in FY2021.