Shriram General Insurance Q1 results: Net profit rises 17% to Rs 114 crore

Plans to increase share of non-motor business to 15%

Shriram General Insurance Company, a joint venture between Shriram Capital and Sanlam of South Africa, has posted a 17 per cent rise in net profit during the first quarter of the financial year 2024-25 to Rs 114 crore, compared to Rs 98 crore during the corresponding period last year.

During the period under review, its Gross Written Premium (GWP) during Q1FY25 has increased by 31 per cent to Rs 733 crore over the same period last year, surpassing the industry growth of 13 per cent.

The company is targeting to increase the share of non-motor business in its portfolio from 9 per cent now to 15 per cent in the next five years. It has also set a target of increasing the number of agents from 76,000 now to around 200,000 by 2029-30.

 

Anil Aggarwal, managing director and chief executive officer, of the company said that it is targeting to increase its GWP from Rs 3,036 crore in FY24 to Rs 3,750 crore in FY25 and may even cross Rs 4,000 crore, if crop business is also added. The company has settled 48,290 claims during Q1FY25, compared to 39,076 in the year ago period. The solvency ratio was 3.87 as of June 2024 against the regulatory requirement margin of 1.5. The number of live policies has gone up to 6.285 million in Q1FY25 from 5.7 million in the same period a year ago. The sectors that the company is betting big for its non-motor business growth are fire, engineering and small and medium enterprises.

“Shriram General Insurance (SGI) has achieved a notable overall growth of approximately 31 per cent in GWP. This growth has been significantly driven by our Motor Line of business. In the recent quarter, SGI introduced several new products, including Shri Cyber Insurance. We are also planning to launch more innovative products in the upcoming quarter to further expand our offerings,” said Aggarwal.

The company said that it is setting its sight on crop insurance business, targeting a market with an estimated industry premium potential of Rs 30,000 crore.

“The strategy is centered on efficiency and innovation, aiming to increase our non-motor premiums and achieve a more balanced business mix," he added.

Last year, SGI took a significant step by launching benefit-based health insurance products such as Hospital Daily Cash and Critical Illness Insurance. In Q1FY25, the insurer sold more than 5,000 policies under the Health Insurance Line of Business. “Building on this momentum, we are preparing to introduce Arogya Sanjeevani, an indemnity-based product, to enhance our health insurance portfolio” Aggarwal said.

The company is also coming out with a customised insurance solution to tap the micro small and medium enterprise market. India has over 63 million MSMEs, of which fewer than 10 per cent are currently insured.

“MSMEs ought to realise the importance of insurance to sustain business during any unforeseen circumstances. With the aim of addressing this knowledge gap and recognising the potential of this segment, SGI is developing customised insurance solutions tailored to the diverse needs of this sector,” he added. The company has been appointed as the lead insurer for Odisha by Irdai to achieve the vision of “Insurance for All by 2047”. The objective for SGI is to increase the insurance penetration in Odisha – bringing every member of the community within the insurance safety net. The company is deploying its agents at the gram panchayats to accomplish this mission.