The country’s largest life insurance company, LIC, on Thursday fixed May 29 as the record date for a 1:1 bonus for shareholders and further sweetened shareholder returns with a dividend payout of ₹20 per share (pre-bonus) on the back of a 19.25 per cent rise in profit after tax (PAT) in FY26 to ₹57,419 crore compared with ₹48,151 crore in FY25.
“Our reserves have been growing, and we wanted to pass them on to the shareholders. Even before the final results came, we had announced a 1:1 bonus (in April). For declaring a dividend, we wanted to see the full year’s profit. So today, we have declared, on the pre-bonus basis, a ₹20 per share dividend, which, post bonus, becomes ₹10 per share. Last year we declared a dividend of ₹12 per share, which has become ₹20 now,” said R Doraiswamy, CEO and MD, LIC at the post results earnings call.
For the January-March quarter, standalone net profit rose 23.18 per cent to ₹23,420.43 crore from ₹19,012.79 crore a year ago. Net premium income increased 12 per cent to ₹1.65 lakh crore compared with ₹1.48 lakh crore in the corresponding quarter last year, aided by growth in renewal and single premium businesses.
Expenses of management during the quarter climbed to ₹20,641 crore from ₹16,496 crore a year earlier.
LIC, which is among the key shareholders of the National Stock Exchange of India, also indicated it may consider trimming its stake during the exchange’s proposed initial public offering.
“We still have some time to decide. We are open, and if they need that kind of support from us, we are there to offer it. Otherwise, we can see the market and then take a call,” Doraiswamy said.
Despite concerns that the ongoing West Asia conflict could impact household savings and insurance purchases, LIC remains confident of a double-digit growth in FY27.
“Naturally, when people expect some difficulty, savings and that too savings through life insurance can certainly have an impact. But we will try to see that we continue to move towards our target growth, which we have been consistently maintaining that we will look at double-digit growth,” Doraiswamy said.
He also said that there is no urgency for the life insurer to make a foray into the health segment, despite actively looking at it earlier.
