Max Financial Services Ltd.VNB +33%, VNB margin 23.2%

Max Financial Services, through Axis Max Life, reported Q1 FY27 value of new business growth of 33% with VNB margin rising to 23.2% from 20.3%, driven about 70% by a favourable yield curve and about 30% by a higher protection and annuity mix.

APE grew 15%, with protection and health up 44%, annuities up 116% and participating products up 48%. Consolidated profit after tax was ₹180 Cr, gross written premium rose 19% to ₹10,610 Cr, embedded value reached ₹30,415 Cr and annualised operating ROEV was 14.9%. Policyholder opex to GWP improved 185 bps to 16%. Axis Bank's ₹381 Cr infusion lifted solvency to 198% against a 150% minimum, and management sees no immediate need to raise capital, though a ₹1,600 Cr QIP approval stays valid until May.

Offline proprietary growth slowed to 9% on voluntary cancellations and 13-month persistency was 83%. Management aims to grow VNB faster than APE, and detailed regulations now allow structure simplification.