New Delhi: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) anticipates receiving an income tax refund order totaling Rs 25,464 crore, expected to be realized during the current quarter, as stated by its chairman, Siddhartha Mohanty.
In the preceding month, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), under the Income Tax Department, issued an intimation for a refund amounting to Rs 25,464.46 crore. This refund pertains to interim bonuses allocated to policyholders over the past seven assessment years.
“We are actively pursuing the matter and are optimistic about receiving the refund from the Income Tax Department within this quarter itself,” Mohanty conveyed during the post-result interaction.
Mohanty further mentioned that during this quarter, LIC will introduce several new products, including those aimed at child protection. In the preceding quarter, LIC launched Jeevan Utsav, Index Plus, and several other products, contributing to an increase in the value of new business (VNB) margin levels to 16.6 per cent.
The anticipated refund is poised to bolster the corporation’s bottom line in the fourth quarter.
In the recently concluded third quarter, the state-owned insurer reported a 49 per cent surge in net profit to Rs 9,444 crore for the quarter ending December 2023, compared to Rs 6,334 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Additionally, LIC’s net premium income improved to Rs 1,17,017 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal, up from Rs 1,11,788 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Total income for LIC also saw an increase, rising to Rs 2,12,447 crore in the latest December quarter, compared to Rs 1,96,891 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The LIC board has sanctioned an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share of face value Rs 10 each for FY24.
Mohanty clarified that the profit for the nine months ending December 2022, amounting to Rs 22,970 crore, is not comparable, as it includes an amount of Rs 4,542 crore (Net of Tax) related to accretions on the Available Solvency Margin for the last quarter of 2021-22. This amount was transferred from the Non-Par fund to shareholders’ accounts on September 30, 2022.
For the nine-month period ending December 31, 2023, total premium income stood at Rs 3,22,776 crore, compared to Rs 3,42,244 crore for the corresponding period a year ago.
