Industry sales grew by 2% YoY (-4% in June, -10% in May), the first time in nine months. This was driven mainly by the 21% YoY growth shown by the state-owned LIC. Private player sales also showed a slowdown in sales contraction (-11% YoY for July
vs -13% for June and -29% for May).
Among the larger private players, SBI and HDFC standard showed positive YoY growth. SBI Life sales grew by 19% YoY (17% in June and -3% in May). YTD sales for the company have grown by 9% YoY vs -19% for the private players as a whole. HDFC Standard sales, grew 5% YoY, after eight straight months of sales contraction.
ICICI market share of monthly sales increased by a strong 3ppt to 18%. This was mainly on the back of above-average sequential sales growth of 33% vs 8%MoM of private players as a whole (see “League table” in the left column). On a 12-month basis, however, sales continue to decline, contracting by 29% YoY in July (-45% YoY in June and -58% in May). We expect ICICI to retain its market
leadership among the private players, with its focus shifting to enhancing the efficiency of the existing system.