ICICI Prudential Hit 10% Lower Circuit After Q3 Results

Shares of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. hit the lower circuit on Thursday after its profit rose 2% while value of new business declined 29% in the third quarter.

The private insurer's net profit stood at Rs 227 crore in the quarter ended December, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday. Sequentially, the bottom line contracted 7%. The firm's net premium rose 5% year-on-year to Rs 9,929 crore.

However, the company's value of new business—the present value of the future profit associated with new business written during the period—fell 29% to Rs 436 crore.

• Net premium income at Rs 9,928.8 crore vs Rs 9,464.5 crore, up 4.9%.

• Net profit at Rs 226.92 crore vs Rs 221.56 crore, up 2.4%.

• VNB at Rs 436 crore vs Rs 618 crore, down 29.4%.

• VNB margin at 22.8% vs 33.9% YoY.

• AUM at Rs 2.8 lakh crore vs Rs 2.5 lakh crore, up 12%.

Shares of ICICI Prudential hit the lower circuit of 10% to Rs 463.45 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 8.19% lower at Rs 472.75 apiece, compared to a 0.55% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 at 9:22 a.m.

The share price has fallen 4.90% in the last 12-months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 248 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 18.66.

Of the 33 analysts tracking the company, 25 maintain a 'buy', six recommend a 'hold', and two suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a upside of 33.5%