New India Assurance, GIC Re rally up to 12% on heavy volumes

Shares of state-owned general insurance companies - the New India Assurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) rallied up to 12 per cent in Wednesday’s intra-day trade amid heavy volumes. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.39 per cent at 62,778 at 12:10 pm.

Individually, shares of GIC Re hit surged 11 per cent to hit 52-week high of Rs 162.90 per share. Moreover, the stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 153, which it had touched on November 29, 2022. The average trading volumes on the counter jumped over nine-fold, as around 7.8 million shares, changed hands on NSE and BSE.

Shares of the New India Assurance Company, meanwhile, soared 12 per cent to Rs 126.25 on the back of four-fold jump in trading volumes, as around 11 million shares changed hands on the NSE and BSE.

In the past one month, shares of New India Assurance Company (up 30 per cent) and GIC Re (up 18 per cent) outperformed the S&P BSE Sensex, which was up less than 2 per cent during the period.

In terms of clarification of volume increase of the scrip, the New India Assurance Company on December 12, clarified that the company was not aware of any other information or announcement (including impending announcement) which, in the opinion of the company, may have had a bearing on the price or volume behavior of the scrip.

According to analysts at CARE Ratings, the non-life insurance industry maintained its strong FY23 journey, driven by health and motor segments, supported by enabling regulations. Despite a higher base and lower growth rates compared to FY22, the health segment is anticipated to witness continued demand amid increased awareness post-Covid and rationalisation of discounts.

"The long-term growth of motor insurance would be driven by growth in the automotive industry, which would boost the motor insurance market and increase penetration amongst the uninsured vehicles on road. Further, with easing out of the pandemic’s impact and higher investment yields, the sector's profitability is anticipated to improve as the loss ratio of health sector moderates. However, inflation and slowdown in the economy continue as risks to the growth in the sector," the ratings agency added.

Meanwhile, the non-life insurance industry continued to report double-digit growth in November 2022 after reporting near-flat growth in September 2022. The industry reached Rs. 19,209.2 crore in November 2022, a 22.1 per cent growth year-on-year (YoY). In FY23, the industry grew 16.5 per cent, as compared to 11.6 per cent, in the same period last year, driven by health (especially the group segment), and motor insurance.