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Public general insurer New India Assurance, has achieved a profit after tax of Rs 1089 crores as against Rs 844 crores in the previous year, an increase of 29%. The company recorded a global premium income of Rs 14304 crores as against Rs 12504 crores , an increase of 14.4% over the previous year.
The market share of the company in India increased to 15.82%, which G Srinivasan, chairman and managing director of New India Assurance said had gone up for the first time since opening up of the industry. The Indian business stood at Rs 11,540 crores recording a growth of 15%.
The company declared a dividend of 110% amounting to Rs 220 crores. The combined ratio of the company stood at 117%, as against 119% for FY13.
Though the company had set a target of Rs 15000 crore global premium for FY14, Srinivasan said that they were marginally short of target due to the economic situation in the country owing to factors like inflation, rupee depreciation and GDP growth.
The incurred loss ratio came down to 83.5% as against 85.49% in the previous year due to better underwriting and claims management. The expenses of management dropped to 23.42% from 25.12% due to better productivity. The profit before tax increased to Rs 1294 crores as against Rs 1011 crores of the previous year.
The net worth of the company rose to Rs 8621 crores from Rs 7737 crores of the previous year. The asset base of the company has crossed Rs 53,000 crores as at the end of the year.
For FY15, the company has targeted a global premium income of Rs 16,500 crores. This would include Rs 13500 crore premium from India and Rs 3000 crore from overseas. New India hired 20,000 agents in FY14 and is planning to hire a similar number in FY15.
