Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported a 20.1% year-on-year increase in standalone net profit to ₹12,076 crore for the second quarter of FY27, compared with ₹10,053 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Net premium income rose 16.2% to ₹1,47,018 crore from ₹1,26,479 crore a year earlier. Total income increased to ₹2,62,739 crore from ₹2,39,614 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Renewal premium income grew to ₹68,375 crore from ₹64,996 crore, while first-year premium income declined to ₹10,432 crore from ₹10,836 crore.
LIC H1 profit rises 22%, VNB jumps 34%
For the six months ended September 30, 2026, LIC’s standalone profit after tax increased 21.52% to ₹25,568 crore, compared with ₹21,040 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Total premium income grew 11.64% to ₹2,74,269 crore. Individual new business premium income rose 14.86% to ₹32,725 crore, while individual renewal premium increased 4.68% to ₹1,27,950 crore.
Group business premium income grew 19.62% to ₹1,13,594 crore from ₹94,965 crore a year earlier. Total individual business premium income increased 6.61% to ₹1,60,675 crore.
LIC’s value of new business (VNB) rose 33.95% to ₹6,846 crore during H1 FY27, compared with ₹5,111 crore a year earlier. The net VNB margin expanded by 470 basis points to 22.3% from 17.6%.
On an annualised premium equivalent (APE) basis, overall business grew 5.72% to ₹30,696 crore. Individual business APE was largely flat at ₹17,224 crore, up 0.31%, while group business APE increased 13.55% to ₹13,472 crore.
Non-participating products accounted for 34.03% of individual APE, compared with 36.31% in the year-ago period. LIC said this was in line with its strategy of maintaining around one-third of individual APE from non-par products. Individual non-par APE, however, declined 5.98% to ₹5,861 crore.
The insurer sold 70.97 lakh individual policies during the first half, down 2.25% from 72.61 lakh policies a year earlier.
Market share, solvency and expenses
LIC’s overall market share, measured by first-year premium income, stood at 58.77% for H1 FY27, compared with 59.41% in the corresponding period last year. Its market share was 37.51% in individual business and 70.45% in group business.
The insurer’s assets under management increased 4.16% to ₹59,60,941 crore as of September 30, 2026. Its solvency ratio improved to 2.35 from 2.13 a year earlier.
The overall expense ratio declined by 87 basis points to 10.41% from 11.28% in H1 FY26.
However, LIC’s Indian Embedded Value (IEV) fell 1.95% year on year to ₹7,97,378 crore from ₹8,13,230 crore. Persistency trends were mixed. The 13th-month and 61st-month persistency ratios on a premium basis stood at 74.69% and 61.03%, respectively, compared with 75.29% and 63.81% a year earlier.
What LIC CEO said
Commenting on the first-half performance, LIC CEO and Managing Director R Doraiswamy said the insurer had continued to implement its strategy of product and channel diversification.
“The Non Par APE share of Individual business for H1 FY27 is 34.03%, in line with our current strategy of maintaining levels of one third of Individual APE from Non Par products,” he said.
Doraiswamy also highlighted the improvement in new business profitability, with VNB rising 33.95% and the margin expanding 470 basis points to 22.3%.
“While we expand our overall profitability through diversification of product and channel mix, we are also working towards optimizing costs across the entire business,” he said.
He added that LIC was optimistic about the proposed changes to commission regulations announced by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in September 2026.
“We believe that most of these changes are in the best interest of customers and will lead to further accelerated growth of the life insurance industry in India,” Doraiswamy said.
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