HDFCLIFE

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Katrina Hamlin

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Prudential PRU.L, 2378.HK has a punchy plan to shake up its life insurance business in India: it's buying a controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance. Tapping its new partner's telco and asset management customers is a risky alternative to the tried-and-tested model of distributing products via a bank but could be an ingenious way to kickstart growth.

The $38 billion group agreed to acquire 75% of Bharti Life from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management ONEW.NS for $389 million, it said on Sunday.

That means Prudential CEO Anil Wadhwani is doing a switcheroo: the transaction requires Pru to reduce its stake in an existing venture with ICICI Bank ICBK.NS to under 10%, from 22%, per the company. It could well go on to divest what remains, leaving Bharti as its key partner.

The Indian business is in need of a reboot. New business sales there fell 2% last year, and its ranking among private life insurers fell to fifth from third a year earlier. That was a disappointing result for what ought to be a high-growth market. The world’s most populous country has only 3% penetration in the life insurance space, Prudential reckons.

Wadhwani’s solution is a creative one. Insurers often lean on large banks like ICICI to reach potential policy buyers. But the target’s main attraction is Bharti Airtel’s BRTI.NS nearly 300 million smartphone customers in India, compared with ICICI’s roughly 80 million retail banking clients, per data from Bharti and BCG Matrix. Overlapping markets in Africa could also open up other emerging markets, while the telecom company's asset management arm could help Pru reach India’s high net worth individuals.

But making it work could be tough. JioBlackRock, a joint venture between BlackRock BLK.N and Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS, is tapping additional distributors to sell its products after trying a digital direct model that leaned on its connections to Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecoms group.

And while the deal price seems fair, it’s not a bargain, valuing the company at just over $500 million, or around 1.5 times its embedded value as of September. That’s in line with the average for rivals SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS, HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS and the Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS, per Visible Alpha, and just below 1.6 times for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS. Shareholders sent Pru’s stock down 2% in morning trade in Hong Kong. That's probably because Wadhwani's punt for better rewards in India comes with higher risks.

Follow Katrina Hamlin on Bluesky and Linkedin.

CONTEXT NEWS

Insurer Prudential said on May 17 that it has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management for an initial cash consideration of $389 million, with a potential additional consideration of up to $78 million, subject to certain conditions.

Prudential’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 2.26% to HK$116.8 in morning trade on May 18.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on HAMLIN/katrina.hamlin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: katrina.hamlin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

April 21 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• HDFC LIFE - APPROVED RE-APPOINTMENT OF VIBHA PADALKAR AS MANAGING DIRECTOR & CEO

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((reuters.briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

April 16 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE Q4 PAT 4.96 BILLION RUPEES

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE Q4 NET PREMIUM INCOME 258.29 BILLION RUPEES

• HDFC LIFE - TO RAISE UP TO 10 BILLION RUPEES VIA PREFERENTIAL ISSUE OF SHARES

• HDFC LIFE- RECOMMENDED FINAL DIVIDEND OF 2.10 RUPEES PER SHARE

• HDFC LIFE - APPROVES RE-APPOINTMENT OF NIRAJ SHAH AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CFO

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE FY26 VNB MARGIN AT 24.2%

• HDFC LIFE - APPROVES PREFERENTIAL ISSUE TO HDFC BANK FOR 10 BLN RUPEES

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

March 24 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• HDFC LIFE - GETS TAX DEMAND OF 1.26 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

** Shares of HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS fall 2.1% to 727.4 rupees, their lowest level since May 2025

** The insurer's third-quarter net profit up marginally 1.4% to 4.21 billion rupees ($46.62 million), as a higher premium collection driven by tax cuts more than made up for an increase in expenses

** Co's management expenses rose 30% to 45.33 billion rupees driven by higher employee-related costs and operating expenses

** Jefferies cuts the value of new business (VNB) by 2-3%, factoring lower premium growth of 14% over FY26-28 and trims PT to 900 rupees from 930 rupees but maintains "buy" rating

** Emkay cuts FY26-28 APE estimates by ~1%, while keeping VNB margin estimates unchanged to weave in the Q3 developments

** BOB Capital sees a short-term impact from GST implementation and ITC disallowance

** Thirty-five analysts have a "buy" rating on avg; median PT is 887.50 rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, HDFL down ~3%

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru)

((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com;))

Jan 15 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS reported a marginal rise in third-quarter profit on Thursday, as a higher premium collection driven by tax cuts more than made up for an increase in expenses.

The insurer's net profit rose 1.4% to 4.21 billion rupees ($46.62 million) for the three months ended December 31, up from 4.15 billion rupees a year earlier.

Demand for insurance products grew in the third quarter, supported by the government's move to slash goods and services tax (GST) on life insurance products to zero from 18%.

HDFC Life's net premium income grew 8.8% to 182.42 billion rupees. However, its management expenses rose 30% to 45.33 billion rupees driven by higher employee-related costs and operating expenses.

Annualised premium equivalent sales from individual policies, a key metric that calculates the annualised total value of single and recurring premium policies, rose nearly 13% to 35.17 billion rupees during the quarter, according to Reuters' calculation.

The number of policies sold recorded double-digit growth during the quarter, HDFC Life said.

"We expect this momentum to sustain into Q4, supporting a balanced and healthy full-year outcome," Chief Executive and Managing Director Vibha Padalkar said in a statement.

However, the government's move to do away with GST for insurance products also hurt insurers' margins as they could no longer claim the input tax credit.

HDFC Life's value of new business (VNB), or expected profit from new policies, increased 2.7% to 9.55 billion rupees for the reported quarter, per Reuters' calculation.

Without the GST cut and a regulation change regarding surrender charges, VNB growth for the quarter would have been 11%, the company said.

Its margins from new business for the nine months ended December 31 contracted to 24.4% from 25.1% a year earlier.

($1 = 90.2960 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Nishit Navin in Bengaluru)

((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

Adds source on BoFA responding to regulator in paragraph 4, Norges Bank declining to comment paragraph 17

By Jayshree P Upadhyay

MUMBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - India's markets regulator has accused a Bank of America (BofA) BAC.N business of violating insider trading rules and breaking internal "Chinese walls" in a 2024 share sale, a notice from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed.

The notice followed a SEBI investigation into the conduct of BofA's Indian securities unit in managing a March 2024 Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management (ABSL AMC) ADIE.NS stock sale.

BofA, which did not respond to requests for comment, has filed an application with SEBI to settle the charges without admitting guilt, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The application is under review by SEBI, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to its sensitive nature.

BofA is also responding to the SEBI notice, a second source with direct knowledge said on condition of anonymity, also citing the sensitive nature of the matter.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the October 30 dated SEBI notice, citing people familiar with the matter. SEBI did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

SEBI's notice, which is not public and has been reviewed by Reuters, said its investigation found BofA's deal team, while holding unpublished price-sensitive information on the share sale, contacted potential investors "directly/indirectly".

At this team's request, BofA's broking arm, research team and Asia-Pacific syndicate team contacted investors and shared valuation reports and other confidential details, it said.

"The conduct highlights the failure of (the bank's) deal team to maintain Chinese walls with broking/research arms, impacting safekeeping of confidential information and internal controls," the SEBI notice said.

It said BofA suppressed material facts and made false statements during the SEBI probe into the case, which first came to light in 2024 via a whistleblower complaint. This led to an internal bank probe and the exit of senior officials.

IMPROPER CONTACT WITH INVESTORS?

SEBI's notice cites BofA interactions with HDFC Life HDFL.NS, India's second-largest private insurer, Norges Bank NOCB.UL, Norway's central bank, and Indian investment firm Enam Holdings.

Indian insider trading rules, as in other countries, prohibit an investment bank from sharing price sensitive information with employees outside of the deal team once it has been appointed to manage a transaction, unless it has a legitimate reason for doing so.

SEBI said in this case BofA's research, broking and Asia-Pacific teams sought investor feedback after the bank was appointed to manage the deal on February 28, 2024 and before the formal announcement of the share sale on March 18, which it said breached the rules.

The notice cites an example where the deal team asked the broking arm to provide a valuation report for ABSL AMC and its sponsor, Aditya Birla Group, to Enam Holdings, a potential investor in the share sale that was worth $177 million.

In another instance, the deal team requested the APAC syndicate team in Hong Kong - not a part of the deal team - to seek feedback from Norges Bank on its interest in the offering.

"As such, information related to dealings with ABSL AMC was not handled by (the bank) on a ‘need-to-know’ basis," SEBI said, adding that broking, research, and syndicate teams acted on behalf of the deal team.

The notice did not provide evidence of an exchange of specific price-sensitive information in any of the interactions.

HDFC Life, Enam Holdings and ABSL AMC did not respond to emailed queries. Norges Bank declined to comment.

"This case looks less like classic insider trading and more like an internal-controls failure, which can attract serious regulatory action," said Sumit Agrawal, Senior Partner at Regstreet Law.

BANK FLIP-FLOPPED ON CONVERSATIONS, SAYS SEBI

The SEBI notice said that in response to its queries, BofA initially denied any meetings or communication with investors regarding the share sale and said its internal legal review found no violation of Indian regulations.

The bank claimed investor feedback was generic and preceded its appointment to manage the share sale, the notice said.

It was only after SEBI confronted BofA with responses from HDFC Life and Enam that it acknowledged conversations with potential investors, it said.

The notice said the bank told SEBI that three officials were asked to resign or leave in November 2024 for violating internal protocols by not taking clearances for meeting with potential investors and obstructing investigations, and not for breaching securities laws.

The bank "tried to make untrue statements or suppress material facts while furnishing information to SEBI", it said.

(Reporting by Jayshree P Upadhyay; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Alexander Smith)

((Jayshree.Pyasi@thomsonreuters.com; 9920092491; Reuters Messaging: Twitter: @jaysh88))

MUMBAI, Dec 15 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS has accepted bids worth 7.49 billion rupees ($82.57 million) for subordinated bonds maturing in 10 years, three bankers said on Monday.

The insurer will pay a coupon of 7.63% and has invited bids from bankers and investors for the issue on Friday, they said.

The bonds carry a call option at the end of the fifth year and every year thereafter.

The company did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on December 15:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 90.7110 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia)

((Dharamraj.dhutia@tr.com))

MUMBAI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS plans to raise 7.5 billion rupees ($83.41 million), including a greenshoe option of 500 million rupees, through the sale of bonds maturing in 10 years, three bankers said on Wednesday.

The insurer will pay a coupon of 7.63% and has invited bids from bankers and investors for the issue on Friday, they said.

The bonds carry a call option at the end of the fifth year and every year thereafter.

The company did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on December 10:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 89.9180 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((Dharamraj.dhutia@tr.com, khushi.malhotra@tr.com))

Updates stock price in paragraph 2, adds details throughout

By Vivek Kumar M

Oct 17 (Reuters) - India's Canara HSBC Life Insurance CANR.NS made a muted debut on the bourses on Friday, as unappealing pricing and a crowded IPO market clouded the insurer's prospects.

Its stock was trading at 108.9 rupees, as of 10:50 a.m. IST, up 2.7% from its issue and listing price of 106 rupees, yielding the insurer a valuation of 105.15 billion rupees ($1.20 billion).

Peers SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS and HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS are valued around $21 billion and $18 billion, respectively.

Canara HSBC Life Insurance, which is a joint venture between Canara Bank and HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings, struggled to garner bids from retail and non-institutional investors earlier this week.

Retail investors subscribed 42% of their quota, while high-net-worth individuals subscribed a third of their shares in the $283 million IPO.

Thanks to qualified institutional buyers, the issue was subscribed 2.29 times, which was still lower than most other IPOs that opened in the last couple of weeks.

For instance, another Canara Bank-promoted entity, Canara Robeco Asset Management CANE.NS, received bids worth nearly 10-fold and closed 13% higher in its debut on Thursday.

Choice Broking said the insurer's valuation appeared to be fully priced, with price-to-enterprise value multiple, a stock valuation metric, of 1.6x, while industry averaged 2.4x.

"High dependence on bancassurance (where banks sell insurance) and relatively lower VNB (value of new business) margins compared to peers is expected to keep valuation multiples at a discount to peers," ICICI Direct said.

The insurer got 87% of its new business premium in fiscal year 2024-25 through bancassurance, with Canara Bank contributing 70.6% of this.

The listing caps a busy week for the Indian IPO market, which saw five stock debuts, including a blockbuster listing from LG Electronics India LGEL.NS and a muted start from the country's largest IPO of the year, Tata Capital TATC.NS. ($1 = 87.8387 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Harikrishnan Nair)

((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))

Oct 15 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• Q2 PAT 4.47 BILLION RUPEES

• Q2 NET PREMIUM INCOME 187.77 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

Sept 4 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LTD - EXPECT NON-MATERIAL IMPACT ON EMBEDDED VALUE

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LTD - TRANSITION TO NEW REGIME TAX FROM SEPTEMBER 22, 2025

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LTD - REFORM EXPECTED TO DRIVE HIGHER PENETRATION AND GROWTH

• HDFC LIFE - EXPECT LESS THAN 0.5% IMPACT ON EMBEDDED VALUE FROM GST CHANGE

• HDFC LIFE - GST CHANGE WILL SPUR DEMAND OVER TIME, BE ACCRETIVE TO CO'S VALUE OF NEW BUSINESS

Source text: ID:nNSEbQGXwV

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

Adds details throughout

BENGALURU, July 15 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS reported a 14% year-on-year rise in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by robust demand for its group policies and a decline in claims paid.

The insurer's profit rose to 5.46 billion rupees ($63.63 million) for the three months ended June 30 from 4.78 billion rupees a year earlier.

The company's quarterly net premium income increased 16% to 144.66 billion rupees, driven by a 17% rise in single premiums and an 18.5% jump in renewal premiums.

Claims paid dropped to 86.80 billion rupees from 88.28 billion rupees last year.

Analysts said the strong growth in group insurance plans during the April-June quarter boosted premium income for insurers.

Group insurance policies cover a group of people under one contract and are generally utilised by firms for their employees.

However, growth in market- or unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) has started slowing after a strong last fiscal due to volatility in India's equity markets.

The blue-chip Nifty 50 .NSEI has recovered about 15% from a one-year low hit in April. However, the benchmark index is still down nearly 4.5% from record highs touched last September due to market gyrations resulting from global trade concerns and the India-Pakistan conflict in May.

ULIPs, which have lower margins, accounted for 38% of HDFC Life's overall product mix, down from 39% as of March-end.

"We anticipate a gradual shift, rather than a sharp swing in favour of traditional products over the course of the year." Managing Director and CEO, Vibha Padalkar, said in a statement.

HDFC Life's value of new business (VNB), or expected profit from new policies, rose 12.7%, while VNB margin improved slightly to 25.1% for the quarter, compared to 25% a year ago.

Its annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, which is the annualised total value of all single- and recurring-premium policies, rose 12.5% to 32.25 billion rupees.

($1 = 85.8110 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Eileen Soreng)

((Nishit.Navin@thomsonreuters.com;))

April 17 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• FY25 VNB MARGIN AT 25.6%

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

April 15 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS on Tuesday reported a surge in fourth-quarter profit, helped by strong demand for its group insurance offerings.

The insurer's standalone profit more than doubled to 3.86 billion rupees ($45 million) for the quarter ended March 31. Its quarterly net premium income grew 11% to 16.37 billion rupees, driven by a 30% jump in single premiums.

Demand for its market or unit-linked insurance plans (ULIP) dropped during the fourth quarter as India's stock markets underwent a sharp correction.

In the previous quarters, demand for ULIPs rose consistently as the stock markets traded at record high levels.

However, analysts pointed out that a rise in the demand for group insurance plans during the January-March quarter has boosted premium income for ICICI Prudential.

Group insurance policies cover multiple people in the same plan and are generally taken by companies to provide coverage for employees.

ICICI Prudential's value of new business (VNB), or expected profit from new policies, rose 2.5% to 7.95 billion rupees for the quarter, according to Reuters calculations.

However, the insurer's annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, which is the total value of all single- and recurring-premium policies, fell 3.1% to 35.02 billion rupees during the quarter due to the drop in the sales of ULIPs.

Meanwhile, ICICI Prudential's VNB margins for the full year deteriorated to 22.8% from 24.6% a year ago.

ULIPs accounted for 48.3% of the company's overall product mix, down from 50.8% a year earlier.

Peer HDFC Life HDFL.NS will report its quarterly results later this week, while SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS is scheduled to post its earnings next week.

($1 = 85.7230 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

March 13 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS said on Thursday that a data theft it reported in November did not result in any adverse material impact and has been resolved.

"The unauthorized exploitation was confined to a specific, identified issue," the insurer said in an exchange filing, without disclosing further details.

HDFC Life, in November, said that an unknown source shared certain customer data with the company with "mala fide intent".

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

Adds stock move, details from press statement, industry background

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Indian stock broker Angel One ANGO.NS on Friday said some of its Amazon Web Services (AWS) resources were compromised and that it has hired an external forensic partner to investigate the impact.

The company's shares, already pressured in a weak market, extended losses to as much as 4.7% after the news.

"We have verified that this breach does not have any impact on clients' securities, funds and credentials and all our client accounts remain secure," the company said in an exchange filing.

Angel One said it was notified of the breach by its dark-web monitoring partner and that it immediately changed all credentials of its AWS cloud and other applications.

It did not give further details on the breach, which is the latest to have hit Indian companies, especially insurers.

Niva Bupa Health Insurance NIVA.NS reported an incident last week, while HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS and Star Health STAU.NS were other high-profile targets that led the insurance regulator to direct industry-wide audits of IT systems.

More broadly, the Reserve Bank of India, also the country's financial regulator, said it would launch secure website domain names to curb phishing and other such digital threats.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 9945291420); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Adds details from statement, background on other data leaks in sector

Feb 21 (Reuters) - India's Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co NIVA.NS said on Friday it is investigating whether any customer data has been leaked after an anonymous person claimed to have access to such data.

"The threat actor via email, claims to have the customer data of Niva Bupa. As a matter of urgency, we continue to conduct investigation(s) of data leak and implement measures to mitigate the risk," the insurer said in a statement.

The company did not give any further details.

If confirmed, this would be the latest in a string of data leaks that have plagued the sector in recent months.

In November, HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS said an unknown source shared certain customer data with it with "mala fide intent".

In August, Star Health faced a data theft incident where stolen customer data, including medical reports, were publicly accessible via chatbots on messaging app Telegram and through websites.

India's insurance regulator had in October directed insurers to audit their IT systems following concerns over such leaks.

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

((aleefjahan.cs@thomsonreuters.com))

MUMBAI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS has accepted bids worth 10 billion rupees ($115.13 million) for subordinated bonds maturing in 10 years, three bankers said on Thursday.

The insurer will pay an annual coupon of 8.10% on this issue and had invited bids from bankers and investors earlier in the day, they said.

The issue has a call option at en of five years.

The company did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on February 13:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 86.8580 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

((Dharamraj.dhutia@tr.com))

MUMBAI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS plans to raise 10 billion rupees ($115.6 million), including a greenshoe option of 1 billion rupees, selling subordinated bonds maturing in 10 years, three bankers said on Wednesday.

The insurer has invited bids from bankers and investors for the issue on Thursday, they said.

The company did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on February 12

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 86.5420 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Dharamraj.dhutia@tr.com))

Feb 6 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• HDFC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY - TAX DEPARTMENT REVISES PENALTY TO 24.23 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nNSEbM5nJR

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Feb 5 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• APPROVES ISSUANCE OF NON-CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURES

• ISSUANCE UPTO 9 BILLION RUPEES ON PRIVATE PLACEMENT BASIS

• ISSUANCE WITH OPTION TO RETAIN GREEN SHOE OPTION OF UP TO 1 BILLION RUPEES

• FUND RAISE INCLUDES OPTION TO RETAIN GREEN SHOE OPTION OF UP TO 1 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE6K2NB0

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

Feb 4 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• GETS TAX DEMAND OF 565.6 MILLION RUPEES, PENALTY OF 565.6 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSEb7mxmx

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

MUMBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India, on Saturday, raised the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 100% from the current 74%, a move aimed to boost overseas investments and improve insurance penetration in the country.

The change applies to insurers that invest their entire premium in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, while presenting the annual budget.

Existing regulations and conditions governing foreign investment in the sector will undergo review and simplification, Sitharaman said.

In November, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India's (IRDAI) chairperson, Debasish Panda, said the government should allow 100% FDI in insurance.

"To stick to India's target of 'insurance for all' by 2047, we need a lot of capital ... we need a lot of new entities to come in, there may be some consolidation happening," Panda had said.

Shares of insurance companies such as SBI Life SBIL.NS and HDFC Life HDFL.NS rose 2.3% each, while ICICI Prudential Life ICIR.NS gained 3%.

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

((Siddhi.Nayak@thomsonreuters.com; +91 22 6921 7848; Reuters Messaging: X: https://twitter.com/siddhiVnayak))

Jan 17 (Reuters) - India's SBI Life Insurance Company SBIL.NS posted a higher third-quarter profit on Friday, led by growth in renewed and new insurance policies.

Its profit rose 71% to 5.51 billion rupees ($63.6 million) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, from 3.22 billion rupees a year earlier.

The insurer's net premium income grew 11% to 248.28 billion rupees, driven by a 13% rise in renewal premiums, or premiums that keep policies active, and a 12% jump in first-year premiums.

Insurance penetration has historically been low in India, but rising financial awareness and accelerated demand for cover - especially for life and health insurance - after the COVID-19 pandemic has led to higher policy sales.

The company's value of new business (VNB), or expected profit from new policies - one of the key metrics for insurers - rose 6% year-on-year to 42.9 billion rupees for the nine months to the end of December.

Its annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, a closely watched metric that gives the annualised total value of all single and recurring premium policies, was up 11% at 159.7 billion rupees for the nine month period.

Meanwhile, market- or unit-linked insurance plans (ULIP), which have a lower profit margin compared to term policies, accounted for 67% of SBI Life's overall product mix by individual APE during the quarter, up from 61% a year ago.

Demand for ULIPs has been strong, especially in the first-half of the current fiscal year, driven by India's buoyant stock market.

The rise in the share of ULIPs, however, led to VNB margins contracting to 26.9% for the April to December period from 28.1% a year earlier. Its VNB margins were largely flat on a sequential basis.

To cushion margins, insurers have pushed for higher sales of high-margin policies.

Peer HDFC Life HDFL.NS reported a higher quarterly profit and an improvement in VNB margins on a sequential basis.

SBI Life's shares ended 1.8% higher after the results.

($1 = 86.5910 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))

** Shares of HDFC Life Insurance rise ~9.89% to 653 rupees ($7.48), set for biggest one-day pct gain in nearly 5 years

** Co posts 14% rise in Q3 profit on sales growth in retail insurance policies

** Nomura upgrades to "buy" from "neutral"; says value of new business margin saw limited impact from new surrender regulations

** Norms, effective Oct 2024, allow policyholders higher surrender value even after paying only 1 annual premium

** Shares had slipped ~16% since Oct 1 on surrender rule woes and potential rules that could limit cross selling of insurance to bank customers

** Jefferies reiterates 'buy' but awaits clarity on bank sale speculation for re-rating

** HDFL shares trim three months' losses to ~8.7%

($1 = 86.4300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

((Ananta.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))

BENGALURU, Jan 15 (Reuters) - India's HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS reported a 14% rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by growth in the sales of retail insurance policies.

The company, the first major Indian life insurer to report its quarterly results, said profit rose to 4.15 billion rupees ($48.05 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, with net premium income growing 10%.

HDFC Life's claims paid during the Dec-quarter dropped 7% year-on-year.

Insurance penetration has historically been low in India, but rising financial awareness and accelerated demand for cover - especially for life and health insurance - after the COVID-19 pandemic has led to higher policy sales.

The company's value of new business (VNB), or expected profit from new policies - one of the key metrics for insurers - rose 14% year-on-year to 25.86 billion rupees in the nine months to Dec. 31.

New Business Premiums from retail policies rose 24% in the period, driven by a 15% rise in policies sold.

Annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, which gives the annualised total value of all single-premium and recurring-premium policies, rose 20% to 102.93 billion rupees for the nine months.

ULIP GROWTH

Demand for market- or unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) -has been strong, especially in the first half of the fiscal year, driven by India's buoyant stock market.

ULIPs, which have lower profit margins, accounted for 37% of HDFC Life's overall product mix in terms of individual APE, up from 32% a year ago.

The rise in the share of ULIPs led to the VNB margin dropping to 25.1% for the nine months ended Dec. 31 from 26.5% a year earlier.

However, this was higher than the 24.6% the insurer reported at the end of September, as it pushed for sales for higher-margined policies.

($1 = 86.3730 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((Nishit.Navin@thomsonreuters.com;))

** Shares of HDFC Life Insurance Co HDFL.NS up 0.9% at 632.15 rupees but down 0.7% for the week

** Stock on track for its sixth straight weekly loss — the longest since February 2020

** Average rating of analysts covering HDFL is "buy"; peers ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS and SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS both rated "buy" too

** Median PT for HDFL is 810 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock down ~2% so far this year, ICIR is up ~28% and SBIL is down ~0.3%

** YTD, Nifty 50 index .NSEI and Nifty Financial Services index .NIFTYFIN up ~14% and ~16%, respectively

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru)

((dimpal.gulwani@thomsonreuters.com))

Dec 10 (Reuters) - HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFL.NS:

• APPROVES 66 MILLION RUPEES INVESTMENT IN BIMA SUGAM

• APPROVES INVESTMENT UP TO 10% IN BIMA SUGAM

Source text: ID:nNSEc99zNk

Further company coverage: HDFL.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))