SBI General Insurance has recorded a steep 64 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 217 crore for the six-month period ended September, driven by a sustainable underwriting profit.
The general insurance arm of banking major State Bank of India (SBI) reported an underwriting profit of Rs 37 crore, against an underwriting loss of Rs 60 crore in the same period last fiscal year, the company said Wednesday in a statement.
Gross written premium rose 30 per cent to Rs 2,067 cr during the reporting period, the company said.
Rikhil K Shah, chief financial officer of the company, said, "We firmly believe that the true strength of an insurance player lies in securing underwriting profits. Therefore, while our profits have increased by almost 65 per cent (excluding the profit impact of one-time reinsurance ceding in LTH), we are proud to announce that we have additionally secured a sustainable underwriting profit of Rs 37 crore."
"We aim to sustain this by partnering with our customers in underserved markets and fast-tracking claim processing," he added.
Against this, the industry grew much lower at 13 per cent, against 19 per cent in the year-ago period.
The company explained that the net income is exclusive of the impact of one-time LTH reinsurance ceding. Including this, the net income would been Rs 301 crore and the underwriting profit would have been Rs 110 crore on a combined ratio of 87 per cent, it said.
The solvency ratio also came down to 2.46 per cent from 2.67 per cent, while operating expenses ratio to GWP came down to 13.5 per cent from 20.1. Claims ratio improved to 76.7 per cent from 73.1 per cent and the combined ratio stood at 96.8 per cent from 106.8 per cent during the period.
Profit was also led by investment income which rose to Rs 218 crore from Rs 192 crore, while the assets under management increased to Rs 5,790 crore from Rs 4,583 crore, said Shah.
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