Mumbai:
SBI General Insurance, a non-life joint venture between State Bank of India(SBI) and Australian insurance major IAG, has recorded a net profit of Rs 359 crore in the quarter ending in Dec 2017, up 1300 percent over the corresponding period profit of Rs 25 crore last year.
The company has booked an underwriting profit of Rs 69 crore during the reporting period.
The general insurance company mobilised a total premium Rs 2,515 crore during the reporting quarter, up 41 per cent, over Rs 1788 crore earned in the year-ago period.
“Our growth continues to be along the expected lines. Our profit stood at Rs. 359 crs YTD ‘Dec 17 v/s Rs. 25 cr YTD Dec ’16. This comprises a one-time reinsurance arrangement of Rs. 170 cr. Even if we were to exclude that, we have still secured a sustainable profit of Rs. 132 cr. Furthermore, we saw an underwriting profit of Rs 69 crores in Q3 FY17-18,Cost optimization and initiatives towards cost control has led to a reduction in operating expenses for SBIG,’’ said Pushan Mahapatra, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance.
“We saw a 41% YTD growth in our GWP vis-à-vis an industry growth of 19%, for the quarter ended December ’17,’’ added Mahapatra.
According to Mahapatra, some of the products of the company that are doing slightly better than the rest are fire (retail), health (retail), personal accident, and crop insurance.
Crop insurance is an emerging line of business which has seen steep growth in the last two years. Primary reasons are the launch of the dedicated insurance plan by the government and their serious efforts to expand the inclusion of coverage for this business, he explained..
SBIG wants to increase our presence in untapped areas through multi-channels. As far as its reach of is concerned, the company has the biggest distribution partner- the State Bank Group with more than 23,000 branches spread across the geography. It has been able to penetrate in the rural market with simple products. In Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, SBI General’s Simple Health Policy and Individual Personal Accident Insurance Policy are the highest selling products,’ he said.
“We made an underwriting profit to the tune of Rs 110 crore for the quarter that ended on September 30th, 2017. We are one of the youngest players to achieve this so early on in our operations. We have always maintained that the true performance of an insurance player liesnot just in their GWP, but also in them securing an underwriting profit.’’ Said Mahapatra.