MUMBAI: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd on Tuesday reported a 5.2 per cent increase in its net profit at Rs 232 crore for the quarter ended December 2017 against Rs 220.3 crore registered during the corresponding period a year ago.
The private insurer saw a one-time provision write-back worth Rs 40 crore, which added to the overall profitability.
The underwriting profit stood at Rs 20.19 crore during October-December against losses of Rs 116.77 crore last year and Rs 85.07 crore in the September quarter. Solvency ratio stood at 2.21 per cent against 2.01 per cent over last year.
Gross direct premium income rose around 18 per cent to Rs 2,937 crore. Among the segments, the highest net premium was seen in the motor segment at Rs 1,086 crore followed by group/corporate health business, which received Rs 215 crore of net premium.
But, on the other hand, premium from the government health business fell sharply by 87 per cent to Rs 8 crore, leading to an underwriting loss of Rs 12.71 crore compared to 10.4 crore in the same quarter last year.
The combined ratio, a measure of insurance business profitability, stood at 96 per cent -- for the first time in a decade. Underwriting loss, as a result, fell by nearly 76 per cent to Rs 28 crore from the corresponding quarter last year.
Expenses on share holding accounts rose to Rs 72 crore from Rs 16 crore on a year-on-year basis, driven mostly by provision for doubtful debts (including writing off bad debts), which rose by 463 per cent to Rs 55.43 crore.