United India Insurance sustained its growth momentum with a 21 per cent rise in net profit at Rs. 192 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2012, against Rs. 159 crore in the same period in the previous year. The premium income has grown by 20 per cent to Rs. 2,428 crore from Rs. 2,022 crore in the year ago-period against the industry growth rate of 18 per cent.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, G. Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, said the company could increase its market share in respect of premium income to 15.02 per cent against 14.77 per cent in the year-ago period. The net earned premium grew by 27.22 per cent to Rs.1,832 crore from Rs. 1,440 crore.
Mr. Srinivasan said the company could maintain the claims ratio at 83 per cent which resulted in a substantial reduction in the combined ratio to 108 per cent from 113 per cent in the corresponding period in the previous year.
He said the company continued to enjoy strong fundamentals with a solvency ratio of 2.84 against the regulatory requirement of 1.40. The company was poised to complete the current financial year with a premium income of over Rs.10,000 crore, he added.
Income from interest and dividends accounted for Rs. 277 crore against Rs. 222 crore while there was a drop in profit on sale of investments at Rs. 102 crore against Rs. 162 crore in the year-ago period. The market value of total investment portfolio at the end of the first quarter was Rs. 17,929 crore against Rs. 16,291 crore in the previous year.
The company is in its platinum jubilee year with a major thrust on retail portfolio. Mr. Srinivasan said the company would focus strategically on the MSME (medium and small medium enterprises) and rural segments. The plan was to open 300 micro offices in Tier III and Tier IV towns to achieve the objective on financial inclusion, he said.
The company has enrolled 1,282 business correspondents, who would take the message of insurance to the rural areas in order to tap the huge potential for insurance.
Mr. Srinivasan said the company was planning to increase the agency force to 75,000 from 50,000 at present.
