SBI General hopes to break even by FY15

Private sector general insurer SBI General Insurance hopes to break even by FY15 on the back of better underwriting practices, a top company official said today. "We hope to break even by 2014-15 given the better underwriting practices, coupled with consumer focus," company's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Bhaskar J Sarma told reporters after announcing the annual results here.

The general insurer reported a 208 per cent growth in its gross written premium (GWP) to Rs 771 crore last fiscal (2012-13), the company said. During this period, its net losses were at Rs 145 crore while its investment income stood at around Rs 71 crore, underwriting loss was around Rs 215 crore during this period. According to the company, 61 per cent of business was from the retail segment, followed by 20 per cent from corporate and 19 per cent from the SME sector.

Bancassurance channel was the lead channel for the general insurer with a contribution of 63 per cent, followed by 19 per cent through agency channel, among others, Sarma said. On the product side, while fire insurance contributed 41 per cent to the total portfolio, motor insurance was 35 per cent and health and personal accident contributed to around 15 per cent, among others. On current fiscal 2013-14 growth, Sarma said, "we aim to achieve gross premium of Rs 1,500 crore this fiscal with narrowing of losses to around Rs 85 crore."

He also said the company will add another 25-30 branches this year to its existing 38 branches. The company further said it has adequate capital support from the parents to support its business growth. SBI General Insurance is the joint venture between country's largest lender State Bank of India and Australian insurance company Insurance Australia Group with SBI as the majority stakeholder.