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Reliance General Insurance has seen its profits more than double to Rs 24.3 crore in the first quarter of 2014-15, as the total number of policies sold during the period crossed the one-million mark.
The company, a leading private sector general insurance player and part of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's financial services arm Reliance Capital, also beat the overall industry trends with a significant surge in its premium collection.
"While the industry is going through a phase of slow growth, we at Reliance General are trying to reach out to the under-insured population and businesses to sustain growth. We have one of the biggest agency strength which has helped us significantly," its CEO Rakesh Jain told PTI.
Reliance General Insurance's first quarter profit rose by 138% to Rs 24.3 crore in the period ended June 30, 2014, from Rs 10.2 crore in the year-ago quarter.
This comes at a time when some other major private general insurers have shown decline in profitability.
"We have continued with our diversified growth and it has paid dividends in terms of robust top line and bottom line. Fire, engineering and motor segments have powered our growth," Jain said.
The company sold nearly 10.99 lakh policies during the quarter - marking an increase of 19% on year-on-year basis. It had sold 9.22 lakh policies in the year-ago quarter, while the number of policies in the fourth quarter of last fiscal 2013-14 stood at 9.99 lakh -- just shy of the one-million mark, as per an investor presentation.
Reliance General's gross written premium for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 was at Rs 787 crore, a year-on-year increase of 11%, as against the average industry growth of 5%.
RGI has also gained market share and now accounts for 9% of the private general insurance market in terms of premium under written, up from 7.5% in the previous quarter, the company said.
Its business mix at the end of June 30, 2014 was 51% motor, 22% health, 16% fire and engineering, 3% marine and 8% others. It had a distribution network of 127 branches and over 15,500 intermediaries, as on June end.
The company's investment book stood at Rs 4,495 crore -- up 31% from year-ago level -- as on June 30, 2014.
Reliance General recorded its first full-year net profit at Rs 64 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2014. It offers insurance solutions for auto, health, home, property, travel, marine, commercial and other speciality products.
