HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd reported a 12.7% year-on-year increase in profit after tax for the half-year ended September 30, 2026, reaching ₹1,119 crore. Q2 standalone net profit came in at ₹5.08 billion versus ₹4.47 billion in the year-ago period, against an analyst estimate of ₹6.21 billion.

The Board of Directors approved the reviewed standalone and consolidated financial results on October 15, 2026. Q2 revenue stood at ₹217.27 billion compared to ₹188 billion in the year-ago period. Total APE for H1FY27 stood at ₹8,245 crore, marking an 11% YoY expansion. Individual APE rose 9% to ₹7,080 crore. The company maintained a new business margin of 24.7%, slightly up from 24.5% in the corresponding period last year.

Key financial metrics

The following table summarises the critical financial and actuarial metrics for H1FY27 compared to H1FY26:

Operational highlights

Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO, noted that individual weighted received premium (WRP) grew 11% in Q2, ahead of the private industry average of 10%. This momentum lifted overall market share to 16.2% in Q2 from 16.1% in Q1. Retail protection registered robust growth of 33% during H1FY27, with its share of individual APE rising to 8% from approximately 7% in the previous year.

Niraj Shah, Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer, highlighted that renewal collections grew 14% YoY, supported by a growing in-force book. The solvency ratio remained healthy at 180%, compared to 175% in H1FY26. Persistency ratios showed mixed trends, with 13-month persistency at 83% (down from 86%) and 61-month persistency improving to 66% (up from 62%).

What the numbers show

A divergence exists between top-line volume growth and margin stability. While VNB grew 12.1%, outpacing the 11% APE growth, the new business margin expanded only marginally by 20 bps to 24.7%. This indicates that the increase in profitability was driven primarily by higher sales volumes rather than significant margin expansion per unit of business. Furthermore, while total premium income surged 16% to ₹39,569 crore, the total expense ratio increased to 22.3% from 21.6%, suggesting rising acquisition or maintenance costs relative to premium inflows. On a standalone quarterly basis, the Q2 net profit of ₹5.08 billion fell short of the analyst estimate of ₹6.21 billion, even as it marked year-on-year improvement from ₹4.47 billion.

HDFC Life Insurance reported first-year premiums of INR 40 billion in September, a 36% rise compared to the same period last year.

Premium performance at a glance

The following table summarises the key metric reported for the period:

First-year premiums are a closely watched indicator in the life insurance sector, reflecting new business acquired during a given period. A 36% year-on-year rise in this metric points to meaningful growth in new policy uptake for HDFC Life Insurance during September.