ICICI Lombard's Q1 net up 80% to Rs 349 cr on strong premium income

The country’s largest private sector general insurer ICICI Lombard's net profit jumped 79.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 349 crore in the April-June quarter of FY23, on the back of a healthy growth in premium income. In the year-ago period, its net profit was to the tune of Rs 194 crore.

The gross direct premium income by the insurer during the period was Rs 5,370 crore, up 28.2 per cent from the year-ago period.

Underwriting losses of the insurer narrowed to Rs 193.28 crore in Q1FY23 from Rs 624.92 crore a year ago.

The insurer's combined ratio, which is a measure of the money flowing out of an insurance company in the form of dividends, expenses and losses, stood at 104.1 per cent compared to 123.5 per cent a year ago. In FY22, it reported a combined ratio of 108.8 per cent.

Combined ratio below 100 per cent indicates that the company is making an underwriting profit, while a ratio above 100 per cent means that it is paying out more money in claims that it is receiving from premiums.

Solvency ratio was 2.61x at the end of June quarter as against 2.46x as of March 31, 2022. The regulator mandates insurers to have a solvency ratio of 1.5x at all times.

Share of health insurance in the company’s product mix increased from 22 per cent in FY22 to 28 per cent in Q1FY23. The insurer has been focussed in increasing its health book faster and had guided for a higher proportion of health segment in the business mix.

Loss ratio in the health segment halved in Q1FY23 to 73.7 per cent compared to 148.4 per cent in Q1FY22. Overall, the insurer’s loss ratio has come down to 72.1 per cent in Q1FY23 from 75.1 per cent in FY22.

Shares of the insurer closed at Rs 1,268.85, down 0.51 per cent from previous day’s close.