Top three private insurers outperform market estimates, say analysts

Premium from new businesses grew to Rs 113.5 billion, and new business margins increased by 120 basis points (bps) to 23.2 per cent at the end of 2017-18

Strong bancassurance networks, improved agency productivity, and the push towards a digital environment will give the country’s top listed private life insurers the fundamentals to continue outperforming the market’s estimates, say analysts. 

New business margins for the top three listed private life insurance companies have improved in 2016-17 and 2017-18, with analysts expecting growth in margin expansion to slow over the next few years. 

However, analysts say, the fruits of digitisation, which will provide a boost to insurers’ sales and operating efficiencies, are yet to be realised. But losses in mass public insurance schemes on account of extraneous factors can dampen the