Star Health and Allied Insurance Company (STARHEALTH) Q4 20/21 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2021 gross premium rose 37% YoY to ₹9,388.54 crore; reported net loss was ₹1,085.71 crore versus net profit of ₹263.31 crore in FY2020, with material reserve and reinsurance effects.

• Retail health leadership, broad distribution and 20.5 million health-insured lives supported scale; 89.5% of health GWP came from retail health.

Financial highlights

• Gross direct premium increased to ₹9,388.54 crore from ₹6,865.14 crore; net premium rose to ₹7,179.43 crore from ₹5,239.47 crore.

• Net premium earned declined to ₹4,626.63 crore from ₹4,684.09 crore, reflecting the unexpired-premium reserve change and clean-cut reinsurance effects.

• Net incurred claims increased to ₹4,369.46 crore from ₹3,087.43 crore; operating loss was ₹1,481.11 crore and loss before tax ₹1,445.81 crore.

• Net investment income, including investment-sale gains, was ₹424.08 crore; weighted-average yield on income-bearing investments was 7.13%.

• Adjusted for the ₹1,085.71 crore reported loss, basic and diluted EPS were both negative ₹21.75 versus positive ₹5.49 and ₹5.38, respectively, in FY2020.

Outlook and guidance

• Management described the outlook as positive, citing market trust, incurred-claims control, expense rationalisation and digital infrastructure.

• Higher health-insurance awareness, retail penetration opportunities and product innovation were identified as growth drivers.

• Second-wave COVID-19 and related regional lockdowns could increase claims; actual pandemic effects may differ from estimates.