Bharti Axa General Insurance posts Rs 1,574 cr premium in H1

The moderate drop was due to impact of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in flat growth in line with the non-life insurance industry.

New Delhi: Bharti Axa General Insurance on Monday reported a gross written premium of Rs 1,574 crore in the first half of current financial year 2020-21 against Rs 1,586 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The moderate drop was due to impact of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in flat growth in line with the non-life insurance industry.

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Bharti Axa registered a net profit of Rs 95 crore in the first half of FY21 against a loss of Rs 90 crore in the corresponding fiscal period a year ago.

“‘As the headwinds followed Covid-19 pandemic, subsequent lockdowns and restrictions, we shifted our focus towards ensuring that customers’ plight is better managed in these trying times,” said Sanjeev Srinivasan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

“The judicious investment made formerly in tech solutions across all touch-points reaped immense benefits in this period and helped us respond with the required agility.” Srinivasan said efforts were made towards ramping up adoption of self-service options, building pro-active connect with customers especially in cases adjudication of claims remotely and reimbursement claims.

The quick adaptation to the new normal driven by digital realities and changed customer needs helped build a better customer connect and strong performance during this period, he added.

“With the economic and business activities picking up post-lockdown, we are confident of witnessing a positive shift from the current challenging scenario as part of our long-term growth strategy,” said Srinivasan.

Bharti Axa General Insurance managed to improve productivity in most business lines and channels and achieve high double-digit growth in health and personal accident segment, commercial lines and crop insurance in the first half of this fiscal.

The health and personal accident segment saw a significant 47 per cent growth at Rs 226 crore as compared to Rs 153 crore in the same period of 2019-20.

“The expected outcome of the COVID-19 crisis is the behavioural change of people towards health insurance, as they realised the benefits of adequate protection and health coverage. This helped us serve the customers with our comprehensive health insurance plans and boost this segment,” said Srinivasan.

The company recorded strong double-digit growth in both commercial lines and crop insurance segments.

While the company continued focusing on large corporates, it further strengthened its commitment towards SME and MSME segments which helped post 28 per cent growth at Rs 299 crore in the commercial lines segment during the April to September period of this fiscal against Rs 234 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Crop insurance yielded 18 per cent growth to Rs 551 crore in the first half of 2020-21 from Rs 467 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Motor and travel insurance segments were more impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic. Motor insurance de-grew by 26 per cent to Rs 495 crore in the first six months of this fiscal from Rs 669 crore in the same period a year ago.

“There has been an evident dip in vehicle insurance mainly because of the drop in sales of new vehicles during this period. The automobile sales performance due to the ongoing pandemic directly affected the prospects of motor insurance.” The combined ratio, a measure of profitability that takes into account claims and expenses as a proportion of premiums, stood at 111.5 per cent during the April to September 2020-21 against 122.1 per cent in the corresponding period of 2019-20.