ICICI Securities issued a buy rating for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company with a target price of Rs 600. The firm showed steady recovery as retail APE grew 10.7% in Q2FY27. Better product mix and cost efficiency helped margins, while growth in protection and annuity channels supported the positive outlook.
Buy
ICICI Securities research report on ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company
ICICI Prudential (IPRU) has been delivering steady recovery in volume since H2FY26, which has broadly extended into H1FY27. Retail APE grew 10.7% YoY in Q2FY27 (vs. 8.8% YoY in Q1FY27), while VNB grew 20.2% in Q2FY27 and 22.3% in H1FY27. Margins have been on an improving trajectory, riding on better product mix, with VNB margin at 24.7%/25.4/26%% in FY26/Q2FY27/H1FY27, despite the hurdle of non-availability of input tax credits post the GST removal. A combination of better product mix led by strong growth in protection/annuity, partnership channel, and cost efficiency remain key constructs of growth, with further strength possible from recovery in bancassurance/agency channels and improvement in persistency.
Outlook
Maintain BUY; TP revised to INR 600, basis 1.3x FY28E EV We factor in VNB margin of ~26%/26.5% and APE growth of ~13%/15% for FY27E/ FY28E, resulting in an embedded value (EV) of INR 686bn by FY28E. This translates to operating RoEV of ~13.6%/13.9% levels for FY27E/28E.