New Delhi, May 25 -- The Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) has outpaced private sector peers on a key metric. In the March quarter (Q4FY26), its annualized premium equivalent (APE)-calculated by adding regular premium and one-tenth of single premium-rose 22% to Rs.22,954 crore. Axis Max Life Insurance was next at 18%.

LIC's strong growth came despite its dominant 57% market share in India's life insurance sector. HDFC Life Insurance Co., ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. and SBI Life Insurance Co. struggled to post even double-digit growth. LIC's faster APE growth, akin to revenue growth for other companies, pushed the stock up 5% intraday on Friday. Some brokerages also raised earnings estimates, citing robust Q4 performance.

Impre...