SBI General posts Rs 251 crore profit in Q2

Mumbai: A one-time income of Rs 170 crore from its reinsurance portfolio pushed up the net profit of SBI General Insurance to a massive Rs 251 crore in the September quarter, from Rs 5.5 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's gross premium increased to Rs 926 crore from Rs 690 crore a year ago, of which crop insurance alone contributed Rs 306 crore in the reporting period.

"With a one-time income of Rs 170 crore from reinsurance portfolio, we had an underwriting profit of Rs 156 crore in the second quarter against a loss of Rs 78 crore in year-ago period," Pushan Mahapatra, the managing director and chief executive of SBI General Insurance, told PTI.

Driven by motor and fire covers, including home insurance, health insurance and farm insurance, the company is targeting a growth of 40 per cent in its gross premium to Rs 3,600 crore during the current fiscal, he said, adding, "We will have a balanced growth between topline and bottomline."

"We are looking for an IPO in a medium-term," he said.

The company, with 2,600 employees, has been recognised as an employer of choice and is planning to ramp up its head count by 20 per cent during the current fiscal.

The firm, Mahapatra said, generates almost 55 per cent of its annual premium from SBI Group and other regional banks and would bring it down to 50 per cent in future.

The company had a claim ratio of 76 per cent from 80 per cent a year ago while the reinsurance ratio stood at 94 per cent against 41 per cent during the reporting period.

As of now, the company has got 8,944 agents on its fold. "We want to increase the number of agents working with us to around 10,000 by the fiscal-end," he said.