Buy Life Insurance Corporation of India; target of Rs 1100 : ICICI Securities

ICICI Securities's research report on Life Insurance Corporation of India

LIC witnessed APE/VNB grow 3.6%/12.3% YoY in H1FY26. Strategic initiatives have tracked well consistently. LIC has been able to push product mix towards non-participating (36% of individual APE in H1FY26 vs. 9%/18%/28% in FY23/FY24/FY25); and continuously revise its pricing/product strategy to maximise shareholder value. There is expansion in non-agency distribution channels (7.2% of individual NBP in H1FY26 vs. 3.9%/5.6% in FY24/FY25), focus on agency (total no. of agents at 1.49mn, as of Sep’25; 3.2% YoY growth) and improvement in digital initiatives (DIVE/Jeevan Samarth). We believe, a product mix-driven rise in VNB margin is achievable – well-demonstrated by LIC. However, volume growth shall be key for sustainable double-digit volume VNB growth.

Outlook

Maintain BUY; TP at INR 1,100 (unchanged) Our valuations are based on 0.75x FY27E (unchanged) EV of INR 9.3trn. Our multiple adequately reflects the risk of EV sensitivity to market movement and a lower core RoEV profile (compared to peers) on a high base.