The government is planning to soon file the final papers for the LIC IPO with market regulator Sebi, which will provide details of the price band, discount for policyholders and retail buyers, and the actual number of shares to be put on the block, an official said.

The government is in the wait-and-watch mode because of the market volatility induced by the Russia-Ukraine war and will soon decide on the timing of the initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

“We have got the approval of the DRHP and the next step would be to file the RHP, which will give details of the price band and the actual number of shares. We are watching the situation, and soon we will take a call on the timing of the share sale,” an official told PTI.

Profit jumps

LIC on Friday released its numbers for the period ended December 31, 2021. Net profits of the insurer jumped to Rs 235 crore in the October-December 2021 from Rs 90 lakh in the same period a year ago.

The sharp jump has been attributed to a change in the surplus distribution model wherein the surplus generated under a participating policyholders fund will be divided between policyholders and shareholders in the ratio of 90:10. In the case of non-participating policies, 100 per cent of the surplus will go to shareholders.

A par insurance policy provides both guaranteed and non-guaranteed benefits to policy holders in the form of bonus or dividend payment, while a non-par policy provides guaranteed benefits to policyholders, but they do not receive profit or dividend.