Oriental Insurance to list on bourses in FY19

Oriental Insurance Company is set to be listed in the next financial year. The final decision on exact valuations and quantum of stake sale will be taken by the end of this financial year, said A V Girija Kumar, chairman-cum-managing director (CMD). “We are certainly looking at listing the company in line with the government’s programme in 2018-19. Once we come with our results in March 2018, the government will do the necessary reviews and give their approval. Listing is a lengthy process as it takes few months for the preparation, but one can hear the good news by second-third quarter of next fiscal (year),” he said.

Oriental Insurance, which had seen its solvency ratio go below the mandatory level of 150 per cent, has improved it to 152 per cent for half year ending September 2017. Last September, its solvency ratio had stood at 114 per cent. Profit after tax also improved to Rs 705 crore in the six months ending September 2017, against a loss of Rs 382 crore last year. Senior officials in the company said recovery from the weak financial situation was largely because it exited the loss-making portfolio of health and motor insurance.

“Improvement in various financial parameters can be attributed to not growing aggressively in the segments where there are huge underwriting losses like motor and health, especially in group mediclaim. Group mediclaim is creating huge losses for public sector insurers and we have now brought that under control,” Kumar said.