HDFC Life Insurance is heading into the second half of the fiscal year with an excess mortality reserve (EMR) of Rs 204 crore to cover for claims from the Covid pandemic. The insurer said it will monitor the adequacy of the reserve during the period.

The life insurer had allotted Rs 700 crore as mortality reserve at the end of June, while it utilised Rs 556 crore of the reserve from July to September. HDFC Life added Rs 60 crore to the reserves, leaving it with Rs 204 crore at the beginning of the second half of the fiscal.

The additional provisions have impacted the bottomline of HDFC Life Insurance which fell 15.93 per cent to Rs 275.91 crore in the second quarter from Rs 327.83 crore a year ago, though profit was higher by around 2 per cent on a sequential basis from Rs 269.55 crore in the first quarter.

“We settled around 2 lakh claims in the first half of 2021-22. Gross and net claims amounted to Rs 3,640 crore and Rs 2,466 crore respectively. While individual claims have tapered off, group claim intimations were high in the second quarter,” said Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO of HDFC Life Insurance, at the earnings call.

With awareness around insurance at a high in the pandemic, the life insurer continued to grow its business. “Our business performance remains strong with 22 per cent growth in new business premium and private market share of 16.2 per cent in terms of individual weighted received premium in the first half,” said Padalkar.

She said the life insurer is awaiting final approval from the IRDAI and CCI for the acquisition of the Exide Life Insurance business and is in discussions with the authorities having received shareholder approval in September.

The HDFC Life share was down 0.61 per cent on Friday at the Bombay Stock Exchange.