BENGALURU (Reuters) -Shares of India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance fell 10% on Thursday after weak demand led to a sharp contraction in new business margins. Shares of the company fell to an eight-month low, marking the biggest slide since Feb. 1, when India announced a plan to tax the total returns of policies with returns exceeding 500,000 rupees at maturity. The new business margin decline was sharper-than-expected, Jefferies said in a note.
India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a 33% jump in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, as gains in securities it invested in helped offset muted premium income growth. The insurer's profit after tax rose to 2.07 billion rupees ($25.24 million) in the quarter ended June 30, from 1.56 billion rupees a year ago, it said in an exchange filing. Investment income stood at 163.27 billion rupees compared to a loss of 84.96 billion rupees a year ago, due to increase in market value of securities along with higher profits on sale of investments.