Reasonable growth, attractive valuations for life insurers' stocks

Analysts positive on most of the stocks, especially SBI Life, HDFC Life and LIC

The October-December quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q3FY23) and the nine-month (April-December 2022) performances of life insurers is expected to be satisfactory but there are divergent trends in December 2022.

Overall, APE (annual premium equivalent) growth will ease off year-on-year (YoY) due to a high base in Q3FY22. Most insurers will see stable or better margins sequentially on the VNB (value of new business) side due to sustained rise in non-par savings in the product mix.

Retail premium trends should be better on a sequential basis. The APE trend is up for Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), SBI