Jan 17 Reuters India39;s SBI Life Insurance Company posted a higher thirdquarter profit on Friday, led by growth in renewed and new insurance policies.

Its profit rose 71 to 5.51 billion rupees 63.6 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, from 3.22 billion rupees a year earlier.

The insurer39;s net premium income grew 11 to 248.28 billion rupees, driven by a 13 rise in renewal premiums, or premiums that keep policies active, and a 12 jump in firstyear premiums.

Insurance penetration has historically been low in India, but rising financial awareness and accelerated demand for cover especially for life and health insurance after the COVID19 pandemic has led to higher policy sales.

The company39;s value of new business VNB, or expected profit from new policies one of the key metrics for insurers rose 6 yearonyear to 42.9 billion rupees for the nine months to the end of December.

Its annualised premium equivalent APE sales, a closely watched metric that gives the annualised total value of all single and recurring premium policies, was up 11 at 159.7 billion rupees for the nine month period.

Meanwhile, market or unitlinked insurance plans ULIP, which have a lower profit margin compared to term policies, accounted for 67 of SBI Life39;s overall product mix by individual APE during the quarter, up from 61 a year ago.

Demand for ULIPs has been strong, especially in the firsthalf of the current fiscal year, driven by India39;s buoyant stock market.

The rise in the share…