SBI Life Insurance shares surged to the top of Nifty 50 gainers following the company’s Q4 results announcement. The stock traded 6.14% higher at ₹1,707 on the NSE at 9:30 am, reaching a high of ₹1,762.
The insurance company reported a marginal increase in net profit to ₹813.51 crore in Q4FY25, despite a 5% year-over-year decline in net premium income. Nuvama Institutional Equities noted that while retail annualised premium equivalent (APE) grew 8.5% year-over-year, a 31.8% plunge in group APE resulted in only 2.1% overall APE growth, below estimates.
SBI Life Insurance aims for 13-14% APE growth in FY26, with expectations of sluggish bank channel growth. Nuvama maintained a ‘buy’ rating with a target price of ₹1,890, despite reducing VNB estimates by 1.8% and 1.9% for FY26 and FY27, respectively. Other brokerages like Nomura and Motilal Oswal also maintained ‘buy’ ratings at ₹1,800 and ₹2,000, respectively, citing potential growth from continued investments in the agency channel and digital enhancements.
Motilal Oswal praised the strong VNB performance in Q4, attributed to a shift towards traditional products. The insurer’s net premium income declined to ₹23,860.71 crore in Q4FY25. APE for the last financial year grew 9% year-over-year to ₹21,420 crore, while VNB rose 7% to ₹5,950 crore.
