ECGC's FY17 net profit almost flat at Rs 282 crore

Net profit of the state-owned specialised insurer ECGC remained almost flat at Rs 282 crore in the fiscal year 2017.
The Corporation had registered net profit of Rs 276 crore in the previous fiscal.
However, the gross profit of the Corporation grew 5 per cent to Rs 407 crore from Rs 387 crore in the previous fiscal.
ECGC reduced the premium rate by an average 17 per cent for its whole turnover policy covers during the year.
The company has declared a dividend of Rs 72.50 crore to the government for the reporting year.
The flat growth in net profit was due to all kind of challenges and volatility the company faced in FY17, ECGC chairperson and managing director Geetha Muralidhar told reporters here today.

"Still, we continued to support companies with increasing cover at reduced premium rates," she said.

ECGC has an authorised capital of Rs 5,000 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs1,450 crore and its networth stands at Rs 3,619 crore.
The value of business covered during FY17 stood at over Rs 1,41,000 crore and the number of policies in force was more than 12,000 - higher than Rs 1,35,000 crore and 11,525, respectively, a year ago.
Under the export credit insurance covers issued to banks, the export advance outstanding of banks and covered by ECGC stood at over Rs 1,17,000 crore, covering over 23,500 exporter accounts.

The overall business grew 8 per cent to over Rs 2,65,000 crore during the year. "We plan to increase it to Rs 400,000 crore in the next couple of years," Muralidhar said.
The corporation settled 578 claims during the year by paying Rs 885 crore.
ECGC has got a high solvency ratio of 8.88 against the regulator's norm of 1.5. It registered an investment income of Rs 655 crore during the reporting year, up from Rs 636 crore in the previous fiscal.
The corporation at present underwrites risk on 237 countries and maintains records of about 1,25,000 active buyers all over the world wherein the overall exposure underwritten is to the tune of Rs 1,40,000 crore.

During the reporting year, the company added around 18,000 new buyers to its database.
The value of exports enabled by ECGC is over Rs 26,000 crore and through the buyer credit covers, it is around Rs 8,500 crore.
Around 17-18 per cent of the company's exposure is into the jem and jewellery sector for which it settled large claims of around Rs 40 crore in FY17.
"We have lots of default in the jem and jewellery sector as things have not normalised in the sector as yet," she said.
The company, Muralidhar said, last fiscal launched cover for Indian companies for their overseas subsidiaries and it was planning to unveil cover for export factoring companies in the near future.