ICICI Lombard expects muted premium growth in FY19

CNBC-TV18

Insurance major ICICI Lombard's quarterly net profit jumped nearly 44 percent to Rs. 293.10 while premium growth came in at 11.5 percent versus the industry average of 11.8 percent.

Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO of ICICI Lombard, spoke to CNBC-TV18 about the quarterly results and business plans.

“We have always wanted to focus on sustainability, profitable growth – the overall industry growth for the last 6 month is 12.8 percent and the company growth has been 12.5 percent but all the segments that the company wanted to focus on are growing faster than the market, “Dasgupta said, adding that the only segment where they are letting go off market share is lumpy businesses where pricing is inadequate like government businesses, which are tender driven.

"So, the focus remains on stronger profit growth and not just premium growth, " said Dasgupta. "For FY19, the premium growth is expected to be muted compared to last five-year average or last 18 year average," he added.

"For the last 18 years the industry has grown 17 percent CAGR but over the next 5-10 years, the growth would be 15-20 percent average. The muted growth was also due to no price hike by IRDA in motor segment and motor insurance is one of the biggest segments for the company as well as the industry," Dasgupta said.