ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (ICICIGI) Q4 18/19 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2019 GDPI rose 17.2% to ₹144.88bn; PAT increased 21.8% to ₹10.49bn, while combined ratio improved to 98.5%.

• Market share reached 8.5% of India’s non-life market and 15.6% of private-sector non-life; ranked fourth overall and largest private-sector insurer by GDPI.

• Customer and distribution scale expanded: 26.5m policies issued, 1.6m claims settled and 910 virtual offices at year-end.

Financial highlights

• Gross written premium increased 17.4% to ₹147.89bn; net earned premium rose 21.2% to ₹83.75bn YoY.

• PBT increased 33.6% to ₹15.98bn; PAT rose 21.8% to ₹10.49bn. Basic EPS was ₹23.11 vs ₹19.01 YoY.

• Net claims incurred rose 18.7% to ₹63.08bn, below NEP growth of 21.2%; overall loss ratio improved to 75.3% from 76.9%.

• Insurance operating profit increased 33.3% to ₹12.31bn; insurance operating expenses fell 5.8% to ₹19.90bn.

• Investment assets reached ₹222.31bn, up from ₹181.93bn; FY2019 annualised realised portfolio return was 9.4%.

Outlook and guidance

• Priorities are profitable underwriting, cautious selection in lumpy tender-driven segments, higher return on equity and sustaining combined ratio at optimal levels.

• Management cited long-term non-life growth potential, supported by India penetration of 0.93% of GDP versus 2.80% globally; industry GDPI had grown at ~17% CAGR over 18 years.

• FY2020 GDP growth was expected at 7.2%; industry growth prospects were supported by low insurance penetration and a young population.