Buy ICICI Prudential Life; target of Rs 397: HDFC Securities

HDFC Securities' research report on ICICI Prudential Life

2QFY19 APE growth recovery to 6.1% YoY, and a largely stable protection share at 7.7% (-50bps QoQ) resulted in flat VNB margins of 17.5% in 1HFY19. Cost/TWRP ratio improved as a result of business growth to 15.1% in 2Q (1Q: 17.5% & FY18: 13.6%) but continues to remain high. Growth in business was largely driven by individual/group protection growing 24.3%/50.0% QoQ and ULIP which grew 49.3% QoQ. It was encouraging to see strong growth in individual protection.

Outlook

We maintain BUY with a TP of Rs 397 (Avg. FY20-21E EV + 19.8x Avg. FY20-21E VNB).