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India's largest public general insurer, New India Assurance posted a net profit of Rs 262.03 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013, compared to a net loss of Rs 486.44 crore in first quarter last fiscal. The company collected total premiums of Rs 3548 crore for the period, up by 10% from the same quarter previous year.
G Srinivasan, CMD, New India Assurance said that they have set a target of Rs 15,000 crore as total premium for 2013-14, with a growth of 20%. The company has brought down its incurred claims ratio from 118% in Q1 2012-13 to 80% in Q1 2013-14. The net worth of the company was Rs 8,019.39 crore for the period.
The combined ratio of the company stood at 111.22%, compared to 147.03% in same period previous year. Though the investment income dipped marginally by Rs 40 crore, the market value of investments rose by Rs 2701 crore. The underwriting loss of the company dropped to Rs 310 crore for Q1, compared to Rs 1010 crore in first quarter of previous fiscal.
During this fiscal, the company is looking to launch new products in its online portal including motor third party, householder's policy among others. New India has also constituted a grievance management structure, to address complaints in health insurance internally.
The state owned insurer has further said that it will stop charging additional premium for people with ailments such as diabetes and hypertension. These changes have been made effect from July onwards. It is to be noted that diabetics are charged about 8-10 per cent higher than others, due to the risks involved.
Speaking about the Uttarakhand disaster, Srinivasan said that the company has incurred Rs 150 crore loss from the natural calamities, of which Rs 100 crore has been reinsured. In terms of setting up micro-offices to achieve financial inclusion, New India is looking to have 1,000 such offices by the end of this fiscal.
