Mumbai:
Riding over an extraordinary income of Rs131 crore and lower operating and claim expenses, SBI General Insurance has recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 396 cr in FY 17 – 18, up 160 per cent over Rs 153 cr in FY 16 – 17. Excluding the extraordinary income, the company's PAT and underwriting losses from operations are at Rs 265 crs and Rs 118 crs respectively.
Aided by motor, fire and crop insurance business, the general insurer's gross written premium (GWP) also witnessed a significant growth of 36 per cent from Rs 2607 cr in FY 16-17 to Rs3553 cr in FY 17-18. Among the various lines of business, motor insurance had the maximum share of the pie at 28 per cent , followed by Fire Insurance and Crop Insurance at 23 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. Health Insurance and Personal Accident Insurance both stood at 14 per cent for FY 17 – 18.
The Combined Ratio of the general insurance joint venture during the reporting period has improved to 98 per cent (without extra-ordinary income 106 per cent) in FY 2017-18 from 113 per cent in 2016-17. The general insurer's investment income has gone up to Rs 390 crore in FY 2017-18 from Rs 340 crore in 2016-17, though the yield on investment of tbhe company has fallen to 8.18 per cent in FY 2017-18 from 8.99 per cent in FY 2016-17.
Pushan Mahapatra, MD & CEO, SBI General Insurance said ,“We have recorded a lower loss ratio and minimised our operating expenses further.Our profits for the FY 17 – 18 have seen an upward trajectory due to our current distribution footprint, risk acceptance, claims handling and cost efficiencies. Additionally, our PAT of Rs 396 cr for FY 17-18 as well as a higher than industry average growth rate in GWP has ensured that we are on track for achieving sustainable growth..”
The company intends to have an underwriting profit without the support of any exordinary income in FY 2019-20, said Mahapatra.
“With the joint push on general insurance by the government and insurance companies alike, we expect greater penetration into untapped and undertapped markets. We look forward to leveraging our extensive reach through our branches and intermediaries for the same, which has been one of the primary drivers for moving towards underwriting profits,''he explained.
The company's operating expenses fell to 18 per cent in FY 17 – 18 from 21 per cent in FY 16 – 17, while its loss ratio decreased to 71 per cent in FY 17 – 18 from 75 per dent in FY 16 – 17.
The solvency ratio for FY 17 – 18 improved to 2.54, against 2.19 for the same period, last year.
The company's Asset Under Management (AUM) rose to Rs. 5292 cr in FY 17-18 is from Rs. 4362 in FY 16-17 and its Return on Equity (RoE) almost doubled to 26.5 per cent in FY 17-18 from 13.9 per cent in FY 16-17.