HDFC Life on Monday reported a 33 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 302 crore in the first quarter ended June this fiscal, mainly due to the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The insurer had posted a net profit of Rs 451 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal. The total premium during Q1 FY22, however, increased by 31 per cent to Rs 7,656 crore as against Rs 5,863 crore in the same period of FY21, HDFC Life said in a regulatory filing.

The insurer witnessed a 20 per cent growth in renewal premium in April-June of 2021-22.

''In the quarter gone by, we witnessed a steep rise in death claims with peak claims in wave two at around 3-4 times of the peak claim volumes in the first wave. We paid over 70,000 claims in Q1. ''The gross and net claims provided for amounted to Rs 1,598 crore and Rs 956 crore, respectively. It appears that claims on individual business have peaked in June and expect them to normalise in the coming months with more people getting vaccinated and a fall in the absolute number of infections,'' HDFC Life said on the impact of the pandemic on the business during the quarter.

However, it said with signs of the second wave receding, the company is seeing a gradual pick-up in economic activity across parts of the country, starting June.

While the economic restrictions in the second wave were fewer and more localised as compared to the first wave, the health impact was a lot more devastating, across our country. Against this backdrop, we recorded a 22 per cent growth and a market share of 17.8 per cent in terms of individual WRP (weighted received premium) in Q1,'' it noted.

HDFC Life said it has created Rs 700 crore of the excess mortality reserve.

The scrip of the company traded 2.62 per cent down at Rs 679.65 apiece on BSE.