SBI Life Leads Private Insurers' Revenue Growth In November
Revenue of life insurers rose in November after falling in October.
Revenue of life insurers rose in November after falling in October. Private insurers continue to lead industry growth, with the group segment witnessing recovery.
New business premiums of life insurers rose 32% sequentially to Rs 27,177.3 crore in November 2021, according to data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. This comes even as the number of policies sold rose 5% month-on-month.
Year-on-year, revenues grew 41%. Compared to the pre-pandemic level of November 2019, the growth in new business premiums is just 1%.
Among the listed players, SBI Life Insurance Co. has been an "outperformer by a good margin", Nirmal Bang said in a report. It recorded the highest monthly revenue and highest market share among private peers.
Other Highlights
Private insurers’ revenue grew 44% to Rs 11,209.8 crore over October. Year-on-year, it rose 63%.
For the country's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corp., revenue rose 24% sequentially to Rs 15,967.5 crore. Over the preceding year, it rose 29%.
Group single and non-single categories have exhibited strong recovery with private insurers registering triple-digit revenue growth over the previous month.
"Latest commentary from companies suggests that individual protection will take longer to recover given the reinsurance rate hikes," Nirmal Bang said in its industry report. "However, the long-term opportunity remains intact."
How the three listed private insurers fared:
HDFC Life Insurance
New business premium rose 4% month-on-month to Rs 1,928.6 crore in November.
Year-on-year, its new business premium reported a 30% rise.
Market share stood at 7.86% for November.
SBI Life Insurance
The company's new business premium surged 1.6 times sequentially to Rs 3,874 crore over October, recording the highest monthly revenue among private peers in November.
On an annual basis, the premium increased 1.7 times.
The growth was aided by an outperformance in the group single category revenue which was 7.4 times higher than the previous month.
It registered the highest market share of 8.77% among private peers in November.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
New business premium rose 11% over the preceding month to Rs 1,251.7 crore.
It recorded 22% growth over a year earlier.
ICICI Prudential's market share stood at 4.91% for the month.