ICICI Life Insurance Limited

Financial Services — Insurance - Life · NSE

₹445.00−₹4.00 (−0.89%)

DalalBaazaar Score

49 / 100

🟡 Moderate

Verdict

NEUTRAL

Risk

Low

No individual risk factor stands out on this snapshot.

In simple words: Reasonable but unspectacular business quality, with modest growth. Thin profit margins are the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of ICICI Life Insurance Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

ICICI Life Insurance Limited provides life insurance, annuity, pension, and health insurance products to individuals and groups in India.

IndustryInsurance - Life

SectorFinancial Services

Employees18,963

Annual revenue₹62,206 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹62,206 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹3 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹3 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 18,963 employees supports ₹3.28 Cr of revenue a year, the signature of a capital- or asset-led business.

EBITDA margin3.5%

Net margin2.6%

Revenue / employee₹3.28 Cr

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are HDFC LIFE INS CO LTD, SBI LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD, ICICI LOMBARD GIC LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

HDFC LIFE INS CO LTDP/E 58.4x · ROE 11.3%

SBI LIFE INSURANCE CO LTDP/E 63.9x · ROE 13.7%

ICICI LOMBARD GIC LIMITEDP/E 33.0x · ROE 13.6%

What is its competitive advantage?Not assessable from these ratios

For a lender, returns on capital are shaped by leverage and funding cost rather than by pricing power, so the usual financial signature of an advantage does not apply. Judge this one on deposit franchise, cost of funds and asset quality — none of which are in this data.

ROE12.9%

Peer median ROE13.6%

What is the outlook?

26 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 9.5% and earnings to grow about 10.3% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+9.5%

Est. earnings growth+10.3%

Analysts26

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +28% while net margin moved +55% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+28%

Margin effect+55%

DalalBaazaar Score

49/ 100

Moderate

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Shareholders fund just 4.3% of the balance sheet — highly levered even by banking standards
• Capital adequacy, gross NPAs and provision coverage decide a lender's financial health, and none are available here — check the bank's own quarterly disclosure

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

43/ 100

Weak

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

63/ 100

Fair

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

Weak on business quality and not cheap enough to compensate.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

36.7x

3Y Median

94.7x

40 monthly readings · mean 89.2x · range 40.2x–132.5x

Sector Median

58.4x

median of 3 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 61% below its 3y median of 94.7x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 37% below the peer median of 58.4x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

94.7x median over 40 months · -61%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

58.4x median of 3 peers · -37%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

P/E (Trailing)

36.7x

P/B

4.41x

EV/EBITDA

30.0x

PEG

1.44

Dividend Yield

0.37%

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well3

Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 8.1% to 11.8%.
Valuation below its historical average
At 36.7x the stock trades 61% below its own median of 94.7x.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention1

Receivables growing faster than sales
Receivables are up 65% against revenue growth of 28% — customers are taking longer to pay.

Red Flags

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Priced below its own history
The stock trades 61% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 37% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

No clear risk case emerges from the available numbers — which is not the same as there being none.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 1%✓ 3.5%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Return on equity stays above 11%✓ 12.9%
For a lender this is the cleanest single read on whether the book is being grown profitably.
3Revenue growth stays above 6% a year✓ 8.5% CAGR
Latest reported year was 0.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
4Valuation vs its own median of 94.7x✓ 36.7x today
A re-rating above its own history needs a reason; without one it is just a higher price.

Investment Checklist

8 / 11 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

4 good · 7 neutral · 0 weak

Market Cap

₹64,560 Cr

Mid Cap

Mid-sized — more growth headroom, but sharper swings than large caps

P/E (Trailing)

36.7x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

4.41x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹12.11

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

12.9%

Moderate

Moderate capital efficiency

ROCE

Not meaningful

N/A for lenders

Banks and NBFCs don't report capital employed the way other businesses do

Debt/Equity

0.18x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

0.8%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

26.6%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.37%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹4,823 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹445

P/E (Forward)

31.6x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

ROA

0.4%

Weak

Assets generate little profit

Operating Margin

4.1%

Weak

Thin margins leave little room for error

Net Margin

2.7%

Weak

Very little revenue reaches the bottom line

Current Ratio

1.07

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.49

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

Near low

Near its 52-week low

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

460.9 / 481.8

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Below

Long-term downtrend

RSI (14)

37.2

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹48,684 Cr	₹89,136 Cr	₹69,886 Cr	₹62,206 Cr	+8.5%
EBITDA	₹1,097 Cr	₹1,156 Cr	₹1,610 Cr	₹2,171 Cr	+25.5%
EBITDA Margin	2.3%	1.3%	2.3%	3.5%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹813 Cr	₹851 Cr	₹1,186 Cr	₹1,608 Cr	+25.5%
EPS	₹5.65	₹5.89	₹8.16	₹11.05	+25.1%
ROE	8.1%	7.7%	9.9%	11.8%	—
Total Debt	₹1,200 Cr	₹1,200 Cr	₹2,600 Cr	₹2,595 Cr	+29.3%
Free Cash Flow	-₹103 Cr	-₹7,552 Cr	-₹9,666 Cr	-₹5,478 Cr	—

🟢 Revenue has grown at 8.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 25.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 2.3% to 3.5% over 3 years (+1.2 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 25.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 25.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 8.1% to 11.8% over 3 years (+3.7 pts).

🔴 Total Debt has grown at 29.3% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹3.19 L Cr

Total Liabilities

₹3.06 L Cr

Total Debt

₹2,595 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹2,038 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

—

Capex

-₹123 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

70.5%

Insider Holding

23.6%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

12 Jan 2027

Dividend Rate

₹1.65

Ex-Dividend Date

05 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

30 Buy · 3 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹629.7

+41.5% vs CMP

Target Range

₹500 – ₹790

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
HDFC LIFE INS CO LTD	58.4x	11.3%
SBI LIFE INSURANCE CO LTD	63.9x	13.7%
ICICI LOMBARD GIC LIMITED	33.0x	13.6%

Recent News

4 mixed2 general

ICICI Life Insurance (NSEI:ICICIPRULI) - Stock Analysis

Simply Wall Street, 13 Oct

ICICI Life Insurance share price drops 4% from day's high post Q2 results

Business Standard, 13 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

ICICI Life Insurance shares gain 3% as Q2 FY27 VNB soars 21% YoY; here’s what analysts said

Upstox, 14 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

ICICI Life Insurance shares: Despite 34% slump in 2026, Religare sees 42% upside post Q2 results | Here's why

Livemint, 15 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move rather than a change in the business. If the figures on this page have not moved, the fall is either an opportunity or news they have yet to catch up with.

ICICI Bank Limited (IBN) stock price, news, quote and history

Yahoo Finance Singapore, 16 Oct

ICICI Prudential Life Share Price Rise and Valuation View

Univest, 14 OctPrice move

🟡Mixed / dependsA price move, which is not by itself a change in the business. Worth finding the cause before reading it as either good or bad.

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week low — worth checking whether this reflects a temporary setback or a structural problem.
This is a financial-sector business: borrowing is its raw material, not leverage in the usual sense. Debt/Equity and ROCE here aren't comparable to a manufacturer's — read them alongside NIM, GNPA and capital adequacy from the company's own disclosures.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🔴Business QualityWeak6.7/20

🔴Financial HealthStretched4/20

🟢GrowthStrong13.3/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate8.5/15

🟡ValuationFair9.5/15

🟢RiskLow7.2/10

Weak on the fundamentals

Poor scores on business quality without a price low enough to compensate. There is no obvious argument for owning this over a stronger company at a similar valuation.

This thesis breaks if

✓EBITDA margin holds above 1%3.5%
✓Return on equity stays above 11%12.9%
✓Revenue growth stays above 6% a year8.5% CAGR
✓Valuation vs its own median of 94.7x36.7x today