Mumbai, Aug 9 (IANS): The shares of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) went up around 3 per cent in the opening trade on Friday after posting a healthy quarter earnings.

The share opened at Rs 1,159 apiece as the country’s largest insurer reported 9 per cent rise in net profit (year-on-year) in the April-June period, as net premium income surged by 16 per cent.

Nearly 35 lakh policies were sold during Q1 FY25 in the individual segment as compared to 32 lakh in a year-ago period.

LIC has partially resumed operations in Bangladesh. The company said the situation in Bangladesh has still not reached the stage of normalcy and may continue to hamper the operations.

“Till the time the normalcy is restored, the impact of the situation cannot be ascertained," said LIC. The offices were closed due to the political unrest in the neighbouring country.

Meanwhile, the government-owned insurer's net premium income rose 16 per cent to Rs 1.14 lakh crore in the first quarter of 2024-25 as compared to Rs 98,755 crore in the first quarter of 2023-24.

LIC said that its new business premium income (individual) increased by 13.67 per cent to Rs 11,892 crore. Overall annual premium equivalent (APE) jumped 21.28 per cent to Rs 11,560 crore.

According to Sidhartha Mohanty, CEO and Managing Director, a total of 35,65,519 policies were sold in the individual segment during the quarter ended June 30, 2024 as compared to 32,16,301 policies sold during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 registering a growth of 10.86 per cent.

The insurance giant continues to be the market leader with an overall market share of 64.02 per cent. LIC's stock price has surged over 35 per cent this year to date.

The largest insurance company in the country purchased stocks worth Rs 17,000 crore in the June quarter.