ICICI Lombard On Track To Achieve Combined Ratio Guidance By FY25, Says CFO
As a company, they were underinvested in the retail health segment, but they are now expanding distribution and service, Gopal Balachandran says.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. is on track to achieve the combined ratio guidance of 102% by FY25, according to Chief Financial Officer Gopal Balachandran.
If the market combined ratio improves, the target may even get accelerated, he told NDTV Profit.
ICICI Lombard Q3 Highlights (YoY)
Net profit at Rs 431.5 crore vs Rs 352.5 crore, up 22.4% (YoY) (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 498 crore).
Net premium income at Rs 4,304.8 crore vs Rs 3,792.1 crore, up 13.5% (YoY).
Solvency ratio at 2.57 vs 2.45 (YoY).
Combined ratio at 103.6% vs 104.4% (YoY).
In the third quarter, the company reported a "more-than-double" increase in motor segment operating profit (at 116%), which was a focus area for the company.
The gap between the industry's motor numbers and the company's numbers is significantly reducing, he said. "For the first half of the year, the gap between industry numbers and ICICI Lombard's number was 8%, which is down to 4% for Q3." As of December, they have outpaced the industry and are optimistic about the business vertical, he said.
In terms of the retail health segment, the company reported a profit of Rs 2 crore versus losses in Q3 last year. As a company, they were underinvested in this segment but are now expanding distribution and service, and the growth momentum in retail and corporate health segments is looking positive, Balachandran said.
The company will continue to outgrow the market in its commercial lines of business, he said.
Shares of ICICI Lombard closed 5.86% higher at Rs 1,455.25 apiece, as compared with a 2.23% decline in the benchmark Sensex on Wednesday.
Share prices surged as much as 7.3% intraday on Wednesday, on the back of Q3 earnings and management commentary, despite a weak market environment.
