Non-Life Insurers’ Revenue Falls In Seasonally Weak May
The industry’s gross premium underwritten fell 28% month-on-month to Rs 15,404 crore in May, shows provisional data by GIC.
Non-life insurers’ revenue declined over the previous month but rose year-on-year on a low base due to the second Covid-19 wave.
The industry’s gross premium underwritten fell 28% month-on-month to Rs 15,404 crore in May, according to the provisional data released by General Insurance Council. The revenue, however, increased 25% over the year earlier.
Avinash Singh, insurance analyst at Emkay Global, attributed the monthly decline to the seasonal nature of the general insurance business. “Around 20-25% sequential reduction in revenue from April to May is very much common. This is because a significant business renewal in commercial lines such as fire, marine, engineering, liability and group health takes place in April, leading to higher business volumes.”
“The year-on-year growth was due to the playout of the lower base impact,” Singh told BQ Prime. “The Delta wave had led to poor numbers in May last year and business was also impacted due to the demand-supply constraints.”
Motilal Oswal, in its industry report, said “growth (year-on-year) was led by a strong performance across segments, with a 20%/42% year-on-year growth in health/motor segments. Crop segment, too, jumped 36% year-on-year.”
General insurers, which offer cover for home, travel, motor, health, fire and other natural or man-made calamities, reported a 31% decline in revenue over the preceding month at Rs 13,566 crore in May. Year-on-year, it rose 25%.
Standalone private health insurers’ revenue rose 10% month-on-month to Rs 1,709 crore. It was up 24% over the year earlier.
Revenue for specialised state-run non-life insurers surged 83% over April to Rs 129 crore. It also jumped 49% over May 2021.
Here’s how India’s three listed non-life insurers fared in May 2022:
ICICI Lombard General Insurance
Revenue fell 39% month-on-month to Rs 1,428 crore. This was up 34% over a year earlier.
Its market share stood at 10.31% as of May compared with 11.03% in April.
The New India Assurance
Gross premium for the largest general insurer slumped 52% over the previous month. But it was almost unchanged year-on-year at Rs 2,207 crore.
It is the market leader with a share of 18.51% in May against 21.49% in April.
Star Health & Allied Insurance Co. Ltd.
Gross premium for the standalone health insurer rose 31% over the previous month, while it rose 12% year-on-year to Rs 859 crore.
Its market share rose to 4.13% compared with 3.08% in April.