HDFC Life Insurance Company reported a steady financial performance for FY26, with growth driven by its protection business and stable margins, even as regulatory changes weighed on profitability.

The insurer’s profit after tax for the fiscal rose 6% to ₹1,910 crore, compared with ₹1,802 crore in the previous year. However, adjusting for one-time impacts from GST and labour-related changes, underlying profit growth was at 16%, the company said.

New business, measured by Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE), grew 8% year-on-year to ₹16,641 crore in FY26, translating into a two-year CAGR of 12%. The company maintained an overall industry market share of 11%, the release noted.

The company’s value of new business (VNB) stood at ₹4,034 crore, with margins at 24.2%. Excluding the impact of GST and surrender value regulations, VNB growth was broadly in line with APE, while margins would have remained stable at 25.5%.

The protection segment remained a key growth driver. Retail protection business grew 46% in Q4FY26 and 43% for the full year. Its share in the overall mix expanded by nearly 200 basis points to 7.2%, and including riders, protection contributed close to 10% of the retail business. Retail sum assured rose 28% year-on-year, helping the company retain its leadership position in overall sum assured.

Assets under management (AUM), including that of its wholly owned subsidiary, stood at ₹5.3 lakh crore. Persistency ratios remained stable, with 13-month and 61-month persistency at 85% and 64%, respectively, while renewal collections grew 15% year-on-year.

Embedded value (EV) increased to ₹62,139 crore, with an operating return on embedded value (RoEV) of 15%. Adjusted for GST, labour code and surrender regulation impact, normalised RoEV stood slightly higher at 15.4%.

The company reported a solvency ratio of 177% and has received board approval to raise up to ₹1,000 crore through a preferential issue to its parent, HDFC Bank, to strengthen its capital position.

Vibha Padalkar said the company remained among the top three private insurers by individual weighted received premium and continued to outperform the industry in key segments such as retail protection and agency distribution. “Our private sector market share stood at 15.2% for 11MFY26. We outperformed the broader industry in 2 key focus areas: The first one being retail protection which grew 43%, and the second one being agency channel which also grew ahead of industry.”

She added that a gradual shift in product mix towards long-term savings and protection is expected as customers rebalance portfolios amid a more uncertain environment. “We believe our focus on continued investments in distribution, product competitiveness, partner engagement positions and pricing discipline us well to deliver more sustainable and profitable growth as the environment normalises.”

Ahead of results, Shares of HDFC Life ended at ₹631.55, down 1.4%, with a market capitalisation of ₹1.36 lakh crore.