Nov 8 Reuters Life Insurance Corporation of India LIC, the country39;s biggest insurer, posted a 3.8 fall in secondquarter profit on Friday as it paid out higher benefits, while new business margins for the halfyear expanded.

LIC39;s profit after tax fell to 76.21 billion rupees 903.6 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30 from 79.25 billion rupees a year earlier.

The net premium income rose 11.6 to 1.20 trillion rupees but the net benefits paid by the insurer to policyholders climbed 17 to 975.62 billion rupees during the quarter.

Rising awareness about insurance policies after the COVID19 pandemic and new product launches have aided net premium income growth for insurers, analysts said.

Solvency ratio, the measure of an insurer39;s ability to meet its longterm debt obligations, rose to 1.98 during the quarter from 1.90 a year earlier.

LIC has been focusing on increasing its share of highmargin nonparticipating policies to cushion its margins.

Its net value of new business VNB, which measures expected profit from new premiums, jumped 37.7 yearoveryear for the AprilSeptember period. The VNB margin for the period rose to 16.2 from 14.6 a year ago.

Other Indian life insurers such as ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance have struggled to keep their margins intact for the past few quarters with rising demand for lowmargin marketlinked policies.

LIC39;s group business39; total premium rose 25.4 yearonyear for the AprilSeptember period, the insurer…