New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) State-owned insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday posted a 38 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 19,013 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2025 helped by lower expenses.

The country's biggest insurer had earned a profit of Rs 13,763 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

The total income of the insurer during the reporting quarter declined to Rs 2,41,625 crore from Rs 2,50,923 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal, LIC said in a regulatory filing.

LIC’s income from first-year premium also moderated to Rs 11,069 crore in the January-March quarter against Rs 13,810 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal.

However, the income from renewal premiums in the reporting period rose to Rs 79,138 crore compared to Rs 77,368 crore a year ago.

At the same time, expenses of management came down to Rs 16,495 crore from Rs 24,709 crore in the same period a year ago.

"The year 2024-25 was a very exciting and challenging year for our business. After registering a very strong performance in the first six months, we had to redesign and relaunch products to comply with regulatory changes," LIC MD and CEO Siddhartha Mohanty said during media interaction post-announcement of financial numbers.

Asked about updates on picking up stakes in a standalone health insurer, he said the process is in the "advanced stage" and the proposal would be taken to the board in 2-3 months.

The board would take a call on the quantum of stake buy and other details, he said, adding other modalities including regulatory approvals would follow thereafter.

During the entire financial year ended March 2025, the insurer earned a profit of Rs 48,151 crore compared to Rs 40,676 crore in the previous fiscal, registering a growth of 18 per cent.

Total income during the financial year rose to Rs 8,84,148 crore as against Rs 8,53,707 crore in the previous financial year.

The board recommended a final dividend of Rs 12 per equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2025, subject to shareholders' approval in the ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM).

During the year, the insurance company invested Rs 1.85 lakh crore in equities registering a growth of 41 per cent while it earned Rs 73,000 crore as return from its investment.

As regards corporate bonds, LIC purchased securities worth Rs 80,000 crore during FY25 and investment in the current year would depend on market condition and supply.

In terms of market share measured by First Year Premium Income (FYPI) (as per IRDAI), he said, LIC continues to be the market leader by market share in the Indian life insurance business with an overall market share of 57.05 per cent.

For the year ended March 31, 2025, LIC had a market share of 37.46 per cent in individual business and 71.19 per cent in group business.

The Assets Under Management (AUM) increased to Rs 54,52,297 crore as of March 31, 2025, as compared to Rs 51,21,887 crore on March 31, 2024, registering an increase of 6.45 per cent year on year.

The amount of bonus allocated to policyholders is Rs 56,190.24 crore for the financial year 2024-25 as against Rs 52,955.87 crore for the previous financial year 2023-24.

The Solvency Ratio as on March 31 2025 increased to 2.11 as against 1.98 on March 31, 2024.

The Value of New Business (VNB) for the year ended March 2025 was Rs 10,011 crore as compared to Rs 9,583 crore in FY24, registering a growth of 4.47 per cent.

The net VNB margin for FY25 increased by 80 bps to 17.6 per cent as compared to 16.8 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2024.

After the launch of Bima Sakhi Yojana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 9, 2024, LIC has appointed 1,48,888 Bima Sakhis till March 31, 2025, who have sold 4,71,120 policies and have procured New Business Premium of Rs 604.57 crore during the financial year ended March 31, 2025, he said.

He also said LIC has achieved the Guinness World Record Title for the 'Most Life Insurance Policies sold in 24 hours' by selling 5,88,107 policies across India on January 20, 2025. PTI DP DP MR