Emkay Global Financial Recommends Buying SBI Life, Sets Price Target at ₹2,250

SBI Life Delivers Strong Q4FY26 Performance, Boosts Growth Estimates

SBI Life (SBILIFE) has reported a healthy performance in Q4FY26, with industry-leading VNB margin at 28.3%. This margin surpassed both consensus and Emkay Global Financial's estimates, which stood at 28% and 27.4%, respectively. Consequently, Q4 VNB at Rs16.3 billion was 1.5% higher than Emkay Global Financial's estimate.

The company's strong VNB margin was driven by robust growth in the pure-protection segment and a favorable product mix. Despite the impact of GST ITC losses, SBI Life delivered a strong performance. Looking ahead, the management expects SBILIFE to deliver approximately 14% APE growth in FY27, with VNB margin likely to be rangebound at approximately 27-28%. Growth is expected to be driven by the agency channel, led by an increase in the number of branches, agent addition, and better productivity.

To reflect the Q4 developments, Emkay Global Financial increases its APE estimates by approximately 1% while raising VNB margin estimates by 20bps. This results in a 1-2% increase in VNB over FY27-28E.

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Emkay Global Financial's Outlook for SBI Life

Given its strong brand name, warhorse distribution channel, and low-cost advantage, Emkay Global Financial reiterates a BUY on SBILIFE with an unchanged March 2027E target price of Rs2,250. This target price implies a FY28E P/E of 2.0x.

Comparison of Emkay Global Financial's Estimates and Consensus

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Note: Consensus data is not provided for the comparison table.