India's ICICI Lombard posts 12% rise in Q1 profit on higher investment income

BENGALURU, July 18 (Reuters) - Indias ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd (ICIL.NS) reported a nearly 12% rise in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, led by growth in investment income and premium earned.

The ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS)-backed insurer said its profit after tax stood at 3.90 billion rupees ($47.5 million) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with 3.49 billion rupees a year earlier.

Income from investments jumped nearly 27% to 6.22 billion rupees, helped by an increase in the market value of securities and higher profits on the sale of investments.

Net premium earned rose 12% to 38.87 billion rupees.

Net premium income from the motor business, which accounted for more than half of the total premium collected, climbed 3.3% to 21.03 billion rupees after sales of vehicles picked up.

Shares of ICICI Lombard closed nearly 1% lower ahead of results.

($1 = 82.0374 Indian rupees)