SBI General Insurance Q2 net jumps 37%

SBI General Insurance reported a net profit at Rs 166 crore for the second quarter of the current financial year, a growth of 37% compared with the profit of Rs 121 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The general insurer saw a surge in the gross written premium (GWP) and underwriting profits in the quarter under review.

SBI General Insurance saw GWP at Rs 2,417 crore in the latest quarter, against Rs 1,840 crore in the same period last fiscal. Underwriting profits increased to Rs 44 crore in Q2, compared with Rs 35 crore in corresponding period last year, showing a growth of 26%.

For H1FY21, the company recorded underwriting profit of Rs 56 crore. The GWP witnessed a growth of 17%, from Rs 3,118 crore in H1FY20 to Rs 3,658 crore in the first half of this fiscal.

PC Kandpal, MD and CEO, said, “Our strong distribution network and diversified products portfolio have enabled us to strike growth rate of 17% against the industry growth rate of 1.6%. Led by health, we expect to close this year with an overall growth of 20%. Since August, there has been a uptick in the motor segment. However, it will still be some time before the segment will come back to pre-Covid level.”

He added that because of a big increase in use of personal mode of commute due to the pandemic, the company is expecting positive traction in the third-party cover business.

In the first six of this financial year, the general insurance sector has seen premium growth of just 1.6%, largely because of the motor insurance.

Rikhil Shah, CFO, said, “Despite the pandemic, SBI General Insurance has managed a steady growth in H1 of FY 21 and the health category has seen a growth of 57% this year…”