ICICI Pru Life accumulated losses at Rs 514 cr

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company's accumulated losses totalled Rs 514.09 crore as on June 30, 2004.

The leading private life insurer's loss had increased to Rs 221.57 crore in 2003-04 from Rs 147.18 crore in 2002-03 and Rs 105.10 crore in 2001-02.

ICICI Prudential Life's loss in the first quarter of 2004-05 amounted to Rs 40.24 crore, ICICI Bank said in the prospectus it has filed with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its proposed bond issue.

ICICI Bank's other subsidiaries ICICI Bank UK Ltd and ICICI Bank Canada have also reported losses in 2002-03 and 2003-04. ICICI Bank UK's loss in 2003-04 dropped to Rs 9 lakh from Rs 22 lakh in 2002-03.

While ICICI Bank Canada's loss rose to Rs 12 lakh in 2003-04 from Rs 1 lakh in 2002-03. ICICI Bank said these losses can be primarily attributed to initial start-up costs and, particularly in the insurance industry, to a high level of operating expenses and reserving requirements in the initial years of expansion.

Any further losses in these subsidiaries may adversely affect ICICI Bank's business and future financial performance.

ICICI Prudential Life has a capital base of Rs 825 crore. It had in the third quarter of 2004-05 injected Rs 150 crore, the tenth equity hike since the company was incorporated in December 2000.

ICICI Prudential Life's new premium income rose 169 per cent year on year to Rs 498 crore in April-September 2004.

The company wrote over 214,000 policies in this period for a total sum assured of over Rs 6,400 crore, an increase of more than one lakh policies over what it had written in the same period of 2003-04.