Mumbai, Apr 28 (PTI) Lower investment gains, higher COVID-19 claims and higher new premium underwriting have pulled down Bajaj Allianz Life’s net income by 80 per cent in the March quarter to Rs 48 crore from Rs 234 crore a year ago, whittling down the 30 per cent rise in new business premium.
The Pune-based Bajaj group-owned insurer reported Rs 3,236 crore in new business premium, up 30 per cent in the quarter from Rs 2,493 crore in Q4 FY21, led by individual rated new business premium that rose to Rs 1,347 crore from Rs 989 crore, making a market-beating growth of 36 per cent, the company said on Thursday.
For the full year, net profit declined to Rs 324 crore from Rs 580 crore, again impacted by lower gains from the markets and largest than expected death claims.
Its Managing director and chief executive Tarun Chugh told PTI that the numbers were impacted by lower gains from the market investment arising from the market volatility and also by the higher than expected claims on both fronts — claims arising from maturities and also from the pandemic.
The bottomline was also impacted by the higher new business sales, which led to more strain, as the insurer has to set aside more money towards solvency capital. But, he did not quantify the absolute gains from the market.
The company got Rs 2,009 crore in death claims (pre-tax) for the year and Rs 444 crore for the quarter, which includes both individual and group claims, he said, without disclosing how much of these claims were settled.
Speaking on the new fiscal, Chugh, however, sounded confident, citing the momentum in demand for life covers.
My sense is that growth will be good this fiscal. We expect good growth to come in from long-term income products and from pure protection products, he said, but admitted that rising interest rates will be a concern and the company is keenly watching the central bank’s action.
He has based his optimism on the heavy investments going into technology and also in the agency channel, both of which should drive sales. Other growth boosters are tie-up with financial institutions for bankassurance, which now contributes 40 per cent of the total sales along with streamlining the online sales channel.
Its group protection new business grew to Rs 750 crore in Q4 from Rs 739 crore, while renewal premium rose to Rs 2,483 crore from Rs 2,008 crore, an increase of 24 per cent.
Gross written premium for Q4 increased by 27 per cent to Rs 5,719 crore from Rs 4,501 crore.
New business value, which is the metric used to measure the profitability of life insurance businesses, increased by 72 per cent to Rs 621 crore for the full year from Rs 361 crore in FY21.
The solvency ratio stood at a healthy 581 per cent as of March 2022 against the minimum regulatory requirement of 150 per cent.
New business premium rose to Rs 3,236 crore from Rs 2,493 crore for the quarter and to Rs 9,136 crore for the full year from Rs 6,313 crore.
Individual rated new business premium rose to Rs 1,347 crore from Rs 989 crore for Q4 and Rs 3,686 crore for the full year, up from Rs 2,468 crore.
Group protection new business premium rose to Rs 750 crore in Q4 from Rs 739 crore and Rs 2,287 crore from Rs 1,597 crore for the full year.
Renewal premium rose to Rs 2,483 crore from Rs 2,008 crore for the quarter and to Rs 6,991 crore for the full year from Rs 5,712 crore, taking the gross written premium for the quarter to Rs 5,719 crore from Rs 4,501 crore and for the full year to Rs 16,127 crore up from Rs 12,025 crore.
The total AUM of the company rose 16 per cent to 85,000 crore. PIT BEN BAL BAL
