India's ICICI Prudential posts 22% Q2 profit rise on higher premium collections

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company on Tuesday reported a 22.4% rise in its second-quarter profit, driven by higher premium collections.

The ICICI Bank-backed insurer's profit after tax rose to 2.44 billion rupees ($29.31 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 1.99 billion rupees a year earlier.

ICICI Prudential said its net premium income rose nearly 5% in the September quarter, despite the government withdrawing tax incentives on high-value life insurance starting this fiscal year.

Solvency ratio, the measure of an insurer's ability to meet its long-term debt obligations, stood at 199.4% at Sept. 30 against the regulatory minimum requirement of 150%, the company said.

Shares of ICICI Prudential closed 0.5% up ahead of the results. They had fallen 1% during the September quarter.

Rival HDFC Life Insurance Company on Friday also posted a nearly 16% rise in its second quarter profit on higher premium income.

($1 = 83.2467 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)