Highlights:

. The company has posted strong 17.2% growth in Gross Direct Premium (GDPI) in FY2019, while the growth was higher at 20.5% excluding crop segment and higher than the industry growth rate of 12.9%. The GDPI growth rate (excluding crop segment) of the Company in Q4FY2019 was significantly higher at 29.4%.

. The company has continued to register an across the board increased growth in most preferred segments such as fire, engineering, marine, liability and group health. The focus of the company has been on the granular business with further going into tier 3 and tier 4 locations.

. The contribution of crop segment to overall GDPI of the company has reduced to 16.9% in FY2019 from 19.2% in FY2018.

. On the Retail side, SME & Agency channel and Retail health indemnity products continued to grow faster & remain major areas of focus.

. The company has registered robust growth in the Motor segment which aided overall GDPI growth in Q4FY2019. The company has been expanding distribution network so as to increase penetration in tier 3 and tier 4 cities. Virtual offices network has increased to 910 in FY2019 from 135 in FY2018. Individual agents (including POS Agents) were 35,729 end March 2019 as against 24,379 end March 2018.

. Underwriting performance measured in terms of combined ratio continued to be healthy for Q4 FY2019 as also for FY2019. The combined ratio improved to 98.5% in FY2019 from 100.2% in FY2018 and to 98.0% in Q4FY2019 as compared to 99.5% in Q4FY2018.

. As regards the crop segment, the current year's Kharif season has been reasonably better than the previous years. Consequently, the loss ratio has been revised downward by 5%. The company has exhibited declined in the share of crop segment to 16% in FY2019, while expects further accelerated decline in its share in FY2020.

. The company aims to grow its non-government business in the range of 15-20%.

. The company expected to maintain combined ratio around 100% with the focus on strong business growth.

. The company expects to maintain RoE around 20%.

. The company has recruited about 2000 employees in FY2019 causing pressure on operating expense. amounting to 25% of its employee base of 8000 employees end March 2018.

. The Investment assets of the company increased to Rs 22231 crore end March 2019 from Rs 20445 crore end December 2018.

Industry performance

. The General Insurance Industry registered a growth of 12.9% in GDPI to Rs 170104 crore in FY2019 from Rs 150662 crore in FY2018. For the quarter ended March 2019, the growth was 12.6% over the quarter ended March 2018.

. The combined ratio of the Industry was 119.8% in 9MFY2019 as compared to 112.9% in 9MFY2018. The overall combined ratio of the private multi-line general insurers was 103.3% in both 9MFY2019 and 9MFY2018.

. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) prescribed minimum rates to be charged for certain occupancies under fire segments which are higher than the prevailing market rates if they are ceded via treaty to GIC Re. These new rates are applicable with effect from 1 March 2019 on all treaties wherever GIC Re participates. Since GIC Re is the leading reinsurer, this development is expected to be positive since it could improve fire segment's profitability of primary insurers over the medium to long term horizon.

. The Regulator has recently notified that the insurance companies shall continue to charge the prevailing rates for Motor Third Party Liability Insurance Cover from 1 April 2019 onwards until further order is issued. This could impact the loss ratio of the industry.