SBI General Insurance aims at Rs 6,000-crore premium income in FY20

The company is bullish on SME and health segments to counter slowdown in auto space

SBI General Insurance is aiming at a total premium income of more than Rs 6,000 crore in the 2019-20 financial year. A joint venture between State Bank of India (SBI) and Insurance Australia Group (IAG), the company reported Rs 4,717 crore in premium revenue in FY19, SBI General Insurance MD and CEO Pushan Mahapatra said.

“Last year, SBI General Insurance posted more than 33 per cent growth in comparison to the industry growth of about 13 per cent. In the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year, ended June 2019, we have reported 26 per cent growth compared to the industry uptick of less than 10 per cent,” he said.

Mahapatra said the market share of SBI General Insurance had also gone up from 2.77 per cent during FY19 to 3.11 per cent in Q1 of FY20. “We have witnessed robust growth in the segments of property, health, small and medium enterprises (SME), crop etc, although the automobile segment has hit the slow lane,” he underlined.

Pushan said the company was counting on the retail sector, apart from the health and SME segments to make up for the impact of the auto sector slowdown on the general insurance space. While the automobile segment comprises nearly 45 per cent of the domestic general insurance business, SBI General Insurance has a much smaller auto portfolio of roughly 22 per cent, he added.

The company is further looking at doubling its business from the SME portfolio from 5 per cent to 10 per cent by the end of current financial year.

Last year, SBI General Insurance had launched a unique cyber insurance product to provide insurance cover against the growing instances of cyber frauds and hacking.

He said although the domestic cyber insurance market is still small, yet there is a need to create awareness in the sector, especially among corporate clients to seek insurance cover against potential threats emanating from the virtual world. India, USA and China have been clubbed as the world’s most cyber attacks prone nations.

Meanwhile, the company plans to appoint about 3,000 new insurance advisors to add to its current tally of 10,000 across India for deeper penetration in the market, he informed.

In Uttar Pradesh, the company collected Rs 295 crore in premium income last fiscal with the auto segment contributing 36 per cent of the business. It operates 10 branches in the state with a new branch scheduled to be opened shortly. He said UP was one of the key markets for the company with immense future growth potential.