Muted moves

Nifty50: 17,769 ▲ 25 (+0.1%)
Sensex: 60,130 ▲ 74 (+0.1%)

Namaste, friends!

The breathtaking images of 1 Ladakh FC’s stadium are going viral on social media. The picturesque stadium in Ladakh, which is 11,000 feet above sea level, is the highest-altitude football ground in India and among the top 10 in the world. It has a capacity of 30,000 and the estimated cost of building this stadium was around ₹10 crore. 

The Indian markets are also steadily trying to reach such impressive heights.     

• The markets ended in the green for the second consecutive day.
• Out of the Nifty50 universe, 30 stocks closed in the green.
• Nestle India surpassed the street expectation in the March quarter. More on that later.
  

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, PSU Bank (+1.3%) and Oil & Gas (+0.7%) were the top gainers, while Media (-0.7%) and IT (-0.1%) were the top losers.

What’s trending

⭐ Nestle India beats street estimates

The FMCG major, which owns brands like Maggi, reported a net profit of ₹737 crore, up 24.6% YoY. This growth in profit was aided by a 21% rise in sales to ₹4,808 crore. The management said that all its product groups have delivered double-digit growth in the last four quarters. Click here to know more about Nestle India’s March quarter results.   

⭐ UPL slips on weak outlook   

Shares of the crop protection and chemicals maker declined today (-1.9%). The weak results of global agrochemical giant Adama had a rub-off effect on UPL shares. This is because UPL and Adama reportedly operate in the same geographies and segments. 

⭐ HDFC AMC profit rises   

The asset management company’s net profit rose around 9% YoY to ₹376 crore in Q4FY23. In the same period, the income also rose 10% to ₹637 crore. Meanwhile, the board of the company has recommended a dividend of ₹48 per share. 

⭐ Mankind Pharma IPO opens for subscription  

On day 1, the IPO of the pharma company was subscribed 14%. The ₹4,326 crore IPO will be open for subscription till 27 April. The price band for the public issue is between ₹1,026 and ₹1080 per share. Click here to invest in this IPO on Upstox.

In Focus

A premium growth

Indian life insurance industry sold fewer policies in FY23. Life insurers sold 2.85 crore policies, down 2.1% YoY, according to the latest data released by an industry body Life Insurance Council. Despite this decline, the industry still managed to garner ₹3.7 lakh crore worth of premium, a rise of 17.9% YoY. 

So, what were the reasons behind this? Let's take a look.    

Rush to buy policies 

The premium growth was primarily due to the last-minute rush to buy insurance policies before the end of FY23 (31 March 2023) to avail tax benefits. This is because the government announced that it is withdrawing tax exemptions from 1 April 2023 on maturity proceeds of non-unit linked insurance policies (ULIPs) with a premium of ₹5 lakh and above. The government’s decision led to a surge in demand for high-value policies. Obviously, this provided a major boost to the overall premium collections in the last financial year.    

Against this backdrop, private insurers witnessed over a 20% YoY rise in their premium collections to ₹1.38 lakh crore. This meant they had a combined market share of 37.4% in FY23. Meanwhile, the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) total premium collection rose by 16.7% YoY to ₹2.32 lakh crore. 

ICYDK, the private insurers have been gaining market share over the last few years. For context, in 2018, the LIC commanded 69% market share in terms of overall premium. Now, its market share is down to 62.5% in FY23.    

How listed players fared? 

Among the listed insurance players, HDFC Life leads with a 18.8% YoY rise in premium growth in FY23, followed by SBI Life (+16.2%), Max Life Insurance (+13.3%) and ICICI Prudential Life (+12.5%)

Overall, the robust growth in premium collections indicates that the awareness of buying life insurance is growing in India. Experts believe that the industry is expected to witness further growth in the coming years, supported by a continued focus on digitalisation and innovation.​​

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Phrase of the day

Going Long

When you buy a stock, futures or an option contract with the hope that its price will rise, it is called going ‘long’.  When should you go long, find out from this chapter What does going Long mean? 

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