ICICI Bank

MUMBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Home Finance Company ICICH.UL has accepted bids worth 5.75 billion rupees ($59.71 million) for bonds maturing in three years, three bankers said on Thursday.

The bonds will carry an initial coupon of 7.29%, with subsequent quarterly resets linked to the three-month Treasury bill yield plus a spread of 205 basis points, they said.

The company had invited commitment bids for the issue on Wednesday, and did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on July 16:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 96.3000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing byHarikrishnan Nair)

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Adds details, updates with market close levels

July 15 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS posted a 27.8% rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by strong growth in new business premiums and retail term insurance sales, sending its shares up as much as 5.5%.

The value of new business, or VNB, seen as a key measure of profitability from new policies, rose 24.9% from a year earlier, easing concerns over margin pressure from goods and services tax-related input tax credit issues.

Analysts had been watching whether ICICI Prudential Life's shift towards higher-margin non-participating and retail term insurance products would offset those headwinds.

Annualised premium equivalent sales, a key measure of new business, rose 14.6% to 21.36 billion rupees ($221.9 million), while the VNB margin improved to 26.7% from 24.5% a year earlier.

Investors and analysts closely watch these operational metrics to gauge the health of new business for insurers.

Prudential has PRU.L said it must cut its stake in the Indian insurer to below 10%, from about 22%, to secure regulatory approval for its planned 75% acquisition of Bharti Axa Life Insurance, which was announced in May.

Bernstein analysts have warned that the resulting sale of nearly a 12% stake could create a supply overhang and weigh on ICICI Prudential Life's shares.

On Wednesday, its board approved a proposal to rename the company to ICICI Life Insurance Limited. Its shares closed up 3.78% at 523 rupees.

Peers HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS and SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS have yet to report their quarterly results.

($1 = 96.2475 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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July 14 (Reuters) -

• ICICI BANK - BOARD TO CONSIDER REVISION OF FUND RAISING LIMIT VIA OVERSEAS INSTRUMENTS ON JULY 18, 2026

Source text: ID:nBSE8TGwwW

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, July 3 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS plans its first dollar bond sale in nearly nine years, joining peers HDFC Bank and Axis Bank in leveraging the central bank's lower-cost hedging facility for foreign-currency issuance, two bankers said on Friday.

The lender is expected to raise at least $500 million through a likely five-year bond issue, according to the bankers familiar with the matter.

However, the issuance is unlikely before the second half of August, as ICICI Bank is awaiting its quarterly financial results later this month and must complete the renewal of its Global Medium Term Note programme, the bankers said.

"There are plans to tap the dollar bond market, but it may take 45-60 days for the actual issuance to happen as a lot of procedures are still pending," one of the bankers said.

The bankers requested anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to media. ICICI Bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

If completed, the transaction would mark ICICI Bank's first dollar bond issuance since December 2017, when it raised $500 million through 10-year bonds at a coupon of 3.80%.

The fundraising comes after the Reserve Bank of India in June introduced a swap facility allowing eligible external commercial borrowings by banks and state-owned companies to be hedged at a fixed rate of 1.5% per annum, compounded semi-annually.

The measure significantly lowers hedging costs, making overseas dollar fundraising more attractive.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS became the first lender to use the new facility, raising $750 million through five-year bonds in June. Axis Bank AXBK.NS followed with an $800 million dual-tranche dollar bond issue.

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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June 24 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• RESERVE BANK OF INDIA APPROVES ICICI BANK TO PURCHASE UP TO 2% MORE IN ICICI LIFE

Source text: ID:nBSE1GZRYY

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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Corrects paragraph 1 to say rates raised by as much as 300 bps, not as much as 350 bps; paragraph 4 to say HDFC hiked rates by 235-265 bps, not 300 bps

By Gopika Gopakumar

MUMBAI, June 10 (Reuters) - Some banks raised rates on foreign currency deposits for non-resident Indians by as much as 300 basis points on Wednesday, seeking to attract dollar inflows after the central bank eased regulatory restrictions last week.

The Reserve Bank of India will bear the ‌full hedging cost for three- to five-year non-resident deposits, it said on Friday, as part of a broader set of measures to encourage overseas flows and stem weakness in the rupee.

The unit is Asia's second-worst-performing currency this year, down 6% so far, and had slipped to record lows in May.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, India's largest private sector lender, hiked rates by 235-265 basis points to 6% on three- to five-year deposits.

AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS increased rates by 195 bps, offering 7.1% on three-year deposits and 7% on five-year deposits.

Yes Bank YESB.NS has set the rate at 7% on three-year deposits, 7.05% on four-year deposits and 7.10% on five-year deposits, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday. A Yes Bank spokesperson did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Other banks are expected to announce their new rates this week.

Lenders could raise as much as $35 billion to $40 billion via these foreign currency deposits until September this year, according to a Reuters report. The RBI said it is also open to banks providing guarantees to offshore lenders to lend to NRIs, who can place these borrowed funds as deposits.

The RBI had last launched a concessional forex swap facility for non-resident Indians in 2013 when the ​rupee ⁠had depreciated sharply due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's "taper tantrum". Under that scheme, HDFC Bank mobilised $3.4 billion, followed by ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, SBI SBI.NS and select foreign banks.

(Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar in Mumbai; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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June 5 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company IICL.NS said on Friday it has temporarily restricted subscriptions in its gold exchange-traded fund (ETF).

• The company said it will not accept direct subscriptions of more than 250 million rupees ($2.63 million) in the ETF until further notice. It did not mention a reason for the restriction.

• On Thursday, peer HDFC Mutual Fund also restricted lump-sum, or one-time, subscriptions in its gold ETFs, citing market conditions as strong demand for gold amid geopolitical uncertainty drives up inflows into such funds.

• Large inflows can be difficult for gold ETFs to absorb during periods of heavy demand.

• Indian gold ETFs have attracted net inflows of $3.48 billion so far this year.

($1 = 94.9450 Indian rupees)

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

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May 22 (Reuters) - Indian private lender ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has received approval from India's central bank to reappoint Sandeep Bakhshi as its chief executive for a further period of two years, with effect from October 4, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

• Bakhshi would remain ICICI's CEO until October 3, 2028, the bank said. In January, the bank's board approved Bakhshi's reappointment, subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

• ICICI Bank is India's second-largest private lender by market capitalisation. Bakhshi has led the bank since 2018.

• Last month, the bank posted a standalone net profit of 137.02 billion Indian rupees ($1.43 billion) for the three months to March 31, up from 126.30 billion rupees ​a year earlier.

($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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MUMBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Home Finance Company [RIC:RIC:ICICH.UL] has accepted bids worth 5.5 billion rupees ($57.17 million) in a sale of bonds maturing in three years, three bankers said on Thursday.

The bonds will carry an initial coupon of 7.25%, with subsequent quarterly resets linked to the three-month Treasury bill yield plus a spread of 193 basis points, they said, adding the company had invited commitment bids for the issue on Wednesday.

ICICI Home Finance did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 19:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 96.2000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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MUMBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Home Finance Company ICICH.UL plans to raise up to 6.50 billion rupees ($67.47 million), including a greenshoe option of 1 billion rupees, through a sale of bonds maturing in three years, three bankers said on Tuesday.

It will carry an initial coupon of 7.25%, with subsequent quarterly resets linked to the three-month Treasury bill yield plus a spread of 193 basis points, they said, adding the company has invited commitment bids for the issue on Wednesday.

ICICI Home Finance did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 19:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 96.3425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

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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/[email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (ICIR.NS), one of India’s largest insurers, is tactically increasing its investments in longer maturity government bonds, a position it aims to dial back by September in anticipation of rate hikes, a senior executive said.

The strategy reflects expectations that relatively lower supply of longer tenor debt will briefly push yields on long bonds lower, before two rate hikes of 25 basis points each by India's central bank kick in between October and March, Arun Srinivasan, chief of fixed income at ICICI Prudential Life said in an interview on Wednesday.

The insurer has increased its debt portfolio's modified duration to roughly six years, making it more sensitive to interest rate changes, in a purely tactical near-term move.

"We maintain a strict mandate to unwind these positions and reduce modified duration below five years by September as concerns on fiscal and inflation start to mount," said Srinivasan, citing structural constraints in global oil refining that have likely established a floor under oil prices, reinforcing inflation risks.

India's retail inflation rose by 3.48% in April. The central bank ​targets retail inflation at 4%, within a tolerance band of 2% ​to 6%.

"The impact of high global oil prices have not yet fully impacted Indian retail inflation," analysts at SBI Research said in a Monday note.

Wholesale prices on the other hand, have spiked on higher energy costs, and economists say the increase is likely to pass through to retail inflation with a lag.

"If inflationary pressures remain stubborn, the RBI will be forced to act in the latter part of the year," said Srinivasan.

India's monetary policy can look through temporary supply shocks but ​may intervene if inflation pressures ‌become entrenched, central bank Governor Sanjay ​Malhotra said on Tuesday.

For now, the insurance firm prefers investing in liquid papers, especially the benchmark 10-year bond, to navigate volatility, while allocating to 15-year and 40-year segments for long-term investments.

India's 10-year benchmark bond yield IN064835G=CC traded around 7.03%, while the 15-year and 40-year bond yields were near 7.33% and 7.68% respectively on Thursday.

Srinivasan expects spreads between the 10-year and 40-year bonds to compress in the first half of the financial year before widening again in the second.

Within corporate debt, the insurer is focused on high-quality five-year papers, alongside exposure to acquisition financing trades and similar higher-yield credit opportunities.

($1 = 95.8163 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Gopika Gopakumar; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

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By Gopika Gopakumar and Jayshree P Upadhyay

MUMBAI, May 6 (Reuters) - Law firms reviewing governance at HDFC Bank HDBK.NS are set to report this month that they have not found any major lapses, two people with direct knowledge of the findings said, clearing the way for the reappointment of its CEO.

India's largest private lender by assets called in Mumbai-based Trilegal and Wadia Ghandy & Co after Atanu Chakraborty resigned as chairman in March citing "incongruence" between his personal values and bank practices. He did not elaborate.

The resignation was followed by a 13.81% drop in the bank's share price, or $16 billion in the stock's value, and prompted a rare statement from the central bank seeking to allay investor and depositor concern about a lender deemed too big to fail.

It also threw into doubt the lender's application at the central bank due May-end to reappoint CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan.

The affair exposed leadership strain at HDFC, a bank majority-owned by foreign institutional investors and which has faced ire over stock that is down 5% since a $40 billion merger with parent HDFC Ltd in 2023. Closest rival ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has risen 33% in that time and the benchmark Nifty 50 is up 24%.

With 120 million customers and just over a tenth of banking deposits, a clean bill of health from the law firms would bring certainty to a bank whose stability is critical to the economy.

The law firms examined minutes and video recordings of board and extraordinary general meetings over the last three years to ascertain whether Chakraborty had raised governance issues and, if so, how those issues were addressed, the people said, declining to be identified as the findings are not public.

All issues raised at board level were handled as per prescribed processes, one of the people said, without elaborating on those issues.

The law firms are likely to hand their report this month to the board, which will then submit it to the central bank, the person said.

The review findings have not been previously reported.

Chakraborty declined to comment on Reuters' texted queries. HDFC Bank, the Reserve Bank of India, Trilegal and Wadia Ghandy & Co did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

BANK SET TO PROPOSE CEO REAPPOINTMENT

The resignation and review had delayed a board decision on whether to recommend Jagdishan for reappointment as CEO after his three-year term ends in October. The central bank approves lenders' CEO appointments.

HDFC Bank will propose Jagdishan for reappointment after the law firms submit their report, the second person said.

The central bank is of the view that there are no issues that could preclude reappointment, said a third person, who is familiar with RBI thinking. If the review tallies, the RBI would have no problem supporting reappointment, the person said.

After Chakraborty resigned, the central bank said that, on the basis of its periodical assessment, "there are no material concerns on record as regards its conduct or governance".

Proxy advisor InGovern Research Advisory Services last month said the resignation was likely driven by individual personality rather than any threat to shareholder value.

(Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar and Jayshree P Upadhyay in Mumbai; Editing by Ira Dugal and Christopher Cushing)

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Mumbai, May 2 (Reuters) - India's Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit that beat estimates on Saturday, supported by strong loan growth and lower provisions for potential bad loans.

The country's third-largest private lender's standalone net profit rose 13% to 40.27 billion rupees for the quarter ended March 31 from last year. Analysts had expected a profit of 37.37 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Loan demand in India gained momentum in the second half of the fiscal year ended in March ​as easing inflation and lower taxes supported household spending and corporate borrowing.

The lender's net advances expanded 16% in the quarter from a year earlier, mainly driven by retail and corporate loans. Total deposits rose by 15%.

Last month, larger peers HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS beat profit views aided by strong loan growth.

Net interest income – the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits - rose 8% ​to 78.76 billion rupees.

Provisions and contingencies fell 36% quarter-on-quarter and 43% year-on-year to 5.16 billion rupees.

The lender's gross non-performing asset ratio fell to 1.2% at the end of March, from 1.42% in the year-ago quarter.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan, Jayshree P Upadhyay in Mumbai and Nishit Navin in Bangalore; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Peter Graff)

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** Shares of ICICI bank ICBK.NS rise as much as 2.18% to 1,376.40 rupees

** India's second-largest private lender by market cap posted fourth-quarter profit of 137.02 billion rupees ($1.48 billion), 8.5% up y/y

STRONG GROWTH, STABLE ASSET QUALITY

** Jefferies ("buy", PT 1,670 rupees) says credit growth could improve to 15% from fiscal year 2027 on better sector trends, balanced focus on growth and net interest margins; credit costs may rise slightly on normalising recoveries and potential West Asia conflict risks

** JP Morgan ("overweight" PT 1,600) raises FY27–28 forecasts by 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively, on stronger-than-expected growth momentum

** Motilal Oswal ("buy" TP 1,750) expects bank to see gradual re-rating since operating performance holding steady and growth gaining traction; sees FY28 return on assets (RoA) of 2.3% and RoE of 16.2%

** Emkay ("buy", PT 1,785) says bank is well-positioned to deliver 2.1–2.2% RoA over FY27–29, supported by stronger growth, better cost control, and loan loss provisions in check

($1 = 92.7640 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru)

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MUMBAI, April 18 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS reported a stronger-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter profit on Saturday, driven by robust loan growth and lower provisions for bad loans.

The country's second-largest private lender by market capitalisation posted a standalone net profit of 137.02 billion Indian rupees ($1.48 billion) for the three months to March 31, compared with 126.30 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had expected a profit of 126.52 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Indian banks saw credit demand pick up in the second half of the financial year as easing inflation supported consumer spending and corporate borrowing showed signs of revival.

ICICI Bank's total loans grew 15.8% from a year earlier, led by continued momentum in retail lending, particularly mortgages and vehicle loans, while business banking and corporate loans also contributed to growth.

The bank's deposits rose 11.4% during the quarter.

Net interest income – the difference between interest earned on loans and paid on deposits – rose 8.4% to 229.8 billion rupees, helped by loan growth and stable margins.

The bank's net interest margin was steady at 4.32%.

Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total loans declined to 1.4% at the end of March.

Provisions for bad loans fell 89% to 9.6 billion rupees, driven by stronger recoveries and fewer new defaults.

The bank reported a treasury loss of 1.06 billion rupees, marginally lower than the 1.57 billion rupees in the previous quarter, as higher bond yields and the Indian central bank's curbs on forex positions continued to hurt banks.

($1 = 92.5980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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By Nidhi Verma and Nimesh Vora

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, April 17 (Reuters) - Indian refiners are settling payments for rare cargoes of Iranian oil purchased under a temporary U.S. sanctions waiver using Chinese yuan through Mumbai-based ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Last month, Washington unveiled 30-day waivers on U.S. sanctions for the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil at sea in an attempt to ease prices that were driven up by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the U.S. would not renew the waivers, with the exemption on Iranian oil set to lapse on Sunday.

Difficulties over arranging payment for such cargoes given longstanding sanctions on Tehran have deterred some would-be buyers of Iranian crude under the waiver, traders have said.

Earlier this month, state-run Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS (IOC), the country's largest refiner, bought 2 million barrels of Iranian oil onboard the very large crude carrier Jaya in the country's first purchase of Iranian crude in seven years, Reuters reported, a cargo worth roughly $200 million.

India has also allowed four vessels carrying Iranian oil to berth for privately-run refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS, sources said last week. A vessel, the MT Felicity, has discharged thus far, according to LSEG data and a shipping source.

Both refiners are settling the trade through ICICI, which is routing funds in Chinese yuan via its Shanghai branch to seller accounts in yuan. The identity of the sellers could not be determined.

ICICI, IOC, Reliance and India's foreign ministry did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Details on how the cargoes are being paid for have not been previously reported.

NOTICE OF READINESS

IOC paid about 95% of the cargo's value against the supplier's notice of readiness, which indicates that the loaded tanker had entered Indian waters, two of the sources said. One of them said this was an unusual arrangement.

Typically, Indian state-owned refiners settle payments upon delivery or discharge for oil from countries that are sanctioned by Western nations, the two sources said. India has been among the top buyers of Russian oil since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine resulted in widespread Western sanctions on Russia.

The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Indian refiners have also used China's currency to settle some of their Russian oil purchases.

IOC does not plan to make further Iranian oil purchases, one of the sources said.

Until the U.S. waiver, India had shunned the purchase of Iranian oil since 2019, under pressure from American sanctions.

Chinese independent refiners, known as teapots, have been the main buyers of Iranian oil exports since then.

(Additional Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar in Mumbai and Saurabh Sharma in New Delhi; Editing by Tony Munroe and Thomas Derpinghaus)

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Adds details, analyst comment; updates share

April 15 (Reuters) - Shares of India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS rose as much as 7% to a four-week high on Wednesday, a day after the firm posted a 58% jump in quarterly profit, driven by higher policy sales and renewal income.

The shares were up 3.49% at 565.60 rupees as of 10:20 a.m. IST, on track for their best session since July 2024. India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI rose 1.71% while financials gained 1.69%.

ICICI Prudential Life was India's first major life insurer to report in a quarter when retail policy growth is expected to be aided by tax benefits, while demand for market-linked products remains subdued amid equity market volatility.

India's tax cut for life insurance premiums has lowered policy costs, improving affordability and supporting adoption, particularly in protection and term segments, which could drive volumes and product mix, analysts said.

ICICI Prudential's annualised premium equivalent sales - a key measure of new business - rose 9.4% for the three months ended March 31.

Goldman Sachs has raised the value of new business estimates for the insurer by up to 2% for fiscal years 2027 and 2028 on improving product mix and margins while keeping the price target unchanged at 600 rupees.

Motilal Oswal said the insurer's long-term profitability is expected to be supported by higher volumes, aided by tax exemption, stronger traction in non-market-linked products, and improved margins.

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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April 14 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS reported a near 58% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, aided by a pickup in new business growth and steady income from renewed policies.

Profit stood at 6.09 billion rupees ($65.4 million) for the three months ended March 31, up from 3.86 billion rupees a year earlier.

For the full year, profit rose 34.6% to 16 billion rupees, and included gains from the sale of its stake in ICICI Pension Fund Management Company.

Net premium income jumped 17% to 191.8 billion rupees. One-time premiums increased 46%, while renewal premiums rose nearly 6%.

ICICI Prudential is India's first major life insurer to report its results, in a quarter where retail policy growth is expected to be supported by tax cut benefits, while demand for market-linked products, where returns depend on equity market performance, is likely to remain subdued amid volatility.

"The recent '0% GST reform' in September 2025 has made insurance policies more affordable and our retail protection segment registered a strong 50.9% year-on-year growth in second half of FY26," said MD and CEO Anup Bagchi.

Analysts had expected momentum to pick up for ICICI Prudential Life as it shifted focus back to growth after prioritising margins over volumes in recent quarters, supported by a higher mix of protection and non-participating savings products.

Annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, a key measure of new business for insurers, rose 9.4% to 38.30 billion rupees.

Value of new business, which reflects expected profit from new policies, increased more than 21% to 9.65 billion rupees, supported by an improved product mix.

Margins on new business expanded to 24.7% at the end of March from 22.8% a year earlier, as a shift toward higher-margin products helped offset the impact of the loss of a tax credit that was removed following tax cuts.

Non-linked and protection products together accounted for 38% of APE, up from 37% a year earlier, while ULIPs made up 48%, down from 49%.

($1 = 93.1060 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

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