Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest life insurer, has registered a 16 per cent fall in its new premium income in the April-September period to Rs 19,090 crore, data from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) showed.
While the corresponding figure for the industry is a mere 4.3 per cent at Rs 34,590 crore in the period, for the private sector it is 49 per cent at Rs 15,500 crore. The market share of LIC is sharply down to 55 per cent from 68 per cent a year ago.
The state-run insurer’s aim is to grow its premium income by 30 per cent in 2008-09. In the previous financial year, LIC’s new premium income stood at Rs 58,000 crore.
However, in September it has regained some ground, as its premium income went up 85 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4,700 crore. During April-August, LIC’s premium income fell 28.9 per cent year-on-year to Rs 14,360 crore. Market share of the insurance behemoth also increased in September to 58 per cent compared with 49 per cent a year ago.
In September, while the sector grew 56 per cent to Rs 8,140 crore, private players posted a growth of 28 per cent to Rs 3,400 crore.
In the private sector, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has maintained its leadership position with a 10 per cent overall market share compared with 7.8 per cent a year ago. This, despite an impressive show by SBI Life Insurance.
SBI Life has grown its new premium at a staggering 107 per cent in April-September to Rs 2,400 crore. The company with almost 7 per cent overall market share as on September 30, moved to the second spot among private players replacing Bajaj Allianz.
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Pune-based Bajaj Allianz has posted a fall of 11 per cent in its new premium income collection and as a result lost its market share which is now a 5.8 per cent compared with 6.8 per cent a year ago.
If only September figures are considered, SBI Life has much to cheer about. Figures show that SBI Life has moved to the number one spot in terms of market share among private players, albeit jointly with ICICI Prudential.
Both players captured 7.9 per cent of the total new premium income collected in September.While SBI Life’s first-year premium grew at a whopping 119.5 per cent to Rs 641 crore during the month, ICICI Prudential managed a modest growth of 7.6 per cent to Rs 644 crore.
Though American International Group went almost bankrupt, the impact on its life insurance arm in India, seems to be minimal.Tata AIG Life Insurance, a 74:26 joint venture between the Tata group and AIG in India, managed to grow its first-year premium income in September by 9.7 per cent year-on-year.
According to the data, Tata AIG has received Rs 79.27 crore new premium in September compared with Rs 72.25 crore in the year-ago period.
As Indian life insurers depend heavily on unit-linked plans, Motilal Oswal has cut its growth projections for the sector “sharply” because of the current downturn in equity markets.