ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has expressed confidence in the recovery of its annuity business segment as market conditions are expected to normalize in the coming period. The insurance company's outlook reflects optimism about improving market dynamics that could benefit its annuity offerings.

Business Recovery Expectations

The company's leadership has indicated that the annuity business, which has faced challenges in recent periods, is positioned for a turnaround as underlying market conditions stabilize. This recovery expectation suggests that external factors affecting the annuity segment may be showing signs of improvement.

Strategic Focus on Group Term Business

Beyond the annuity segment recovery, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has outlined its growth strategy for the group term insurance business. The company predicts sustained long-term expansion in this vertical, indicating confidence in the segment's potential.

Risk-Reward Optimization Strategy

The insurance provider has emphasized its commitment to meeting specific risk-reward goals as part of its business strategy. This approach suggests a measured and calculated expansion plan that balances growth opportunities with prudent risk management practices.

Market Positioning

The company's dual focus on annuity business recovery and group term business growth reflects a comprehensive strategy to strengthen its market position across multiple insurance segments. This diversified approach may help the company navigate varying market conditions while capitalizing on emerging opportunities in the insurance sector.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance delivered robust third-quarter performance with net profit climbing 20% year-on-year to ₹390 crore, driven by strong investment income and improved margins following recent GST reforms on life insurance products. The positive momentum extended to nine-month results, with profit surging 24% to ₹992 crore.

Financial Performance Highlights

The insurer's key financial metrics demonstrated strong growth across multiple parameters during the reporting period.

The value of new business margin improvement to 24.4% from 22.8% in the previous year was largely attributed to a higher share of protection business in the overall mix.

GST Reforms Drive Business Growth

The recent GST reforms on life insurance products emerged as a significant growth catalyst for the company. CFO Dhiren Salian emphasized the positive impact during the post-earnings analyst call, stating that the reforms will be "value accretive for all stakeholders, customers, distributors and the company."

Total annualised premium equivalent rose 3.6% during the quarter, with protection premiums showing particularly strong performance with a 40% jump following the GST reduction. However, annuity and group funds segments experienced some weakness during the period.

Debt Refinancing and Capital Management

During the quarter, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance undertook significant debt restructuring by calling back ₹1,200 crore of subordinated debt that was originally raised in 2020. The company successfully refinanced this amount through fresh debt issuance, optimizing its capital structure.

Market Response and Outlook

Shares of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance rose 0.35% to ₹682.20 on the BSE, outperforming the broader market which declined 0.3% during the trading session. The management noted that despite the withdrawal of input tax credit on individual business from September 22, 2025, nine-month margins have been maintained at first-half levels.

Salian highlighted the comprehensive benefits of the GST reforms, noting that "customers have seen the value of zero GST, we have benefited from higher volumes, and distributors have also gained from this increase in volumes." The company continues to work with multiple partner types and is progressively addressing commercial arrangements to create win-win propositions across its distribution network.