Kolkata: Private sector insurer SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd will be happy to retain its 39 per cent growth momentum achieved last year in generating new business, a top official said on Monday.
"We hope to sustain the current growth momentum in new business premium which was around 39 per cent in FY17," SBI Life president (operations, IT and international business) Ananda Pejawar told PTI.
If the number of 'active'' SBI branches double, attaining a new business growth of around 35 per cent will not be a problem, he said.
Branches which meet minimum benchmark in terms of new business targets are classified as active, according to the company.
"In FY'17, the life insurance company has increased such active branches from 18 to 30 per cent," Pejawar said.
Currently, there are around 24,000 SBI bank branches through which SBI Life products are distributed, and out of which 30 per cent are internally termed active.
Beside SBI bank branches, some 8,500 branches of other banks also distribute SBI Life's insurane products.
Banassurance is a key channel for the insurance company for its business and it accounts for nearly 60 per cent of first premium income from both retail and group business.
SBI Life is a joint venture between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif -- the insurance arm of BNP Paribas. SBI is putting up eight per cent of stake for sale, while Cardif is selling four per cent. The IPO, which opens on September 20, is expected to fetch Rs 8,400 crore.
The price band has been fixed at Rs 685-700 per equity share and a total 12 crore shares are on sale by the promoters.
Pejawar is not expecting the Rs 5,700 crore IPO by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company to come in the way for the success of the SBI Life's maiden issue.
State Bank's stake will come down from 70 per cent to 62.1 per cent post issue, Cardif's from 26 per cent to 22 per cent and KKR & Co and SingaporeÂ's Temasek Holdings bought 3.9 per cent but these share are currently in lock-in period till first week of October 2018.
The public holding will be 12 per cent in the life major post issue.
