Reliance Life eyes Rs 6,100 crore premium, 10% growth in fiscal 2013

[1]

Leading private sector insurer Reliance Life is targeting a total premium income of Rs 6,100 crore and over 10 per cent growth in the current financial year, a top company official said.

Reliance Life, part of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's financial services arm Reliance Capital, garnered a total premium of Rs 5,497 crore in the previous fiscal 2011-22.

The company is targeting new business premium of Rs 2,300 crore in 2012-13, up from Rs 1,809 crore in the last fiscal, Reliance Life Insurance president and executive director Malay Ghosh said in an interview.

Besides, the renewal premium for the current fiscal is expected to grow to Rs 3,800 crore, from Rs 3,688 crore in 2011-12, he added.

"We expect significant growth in our new business premium coming from tier II and III cities and a marginal growth in renewals in the current fiscal. We are confident of achieving over 10 per cent growth in our overall business," he said.

Reliance Life registered a total premium collection of Rs 810 crore in the last quarter, ended June 30 and it expects premium income to grow further in the remaining three quarters of the current fiscal on the back of its various customer focus initiatives and enhanced distribution productivity.

Ghosh said the company expects almost 60 per cent of its new business to come from non-urban areas, while 34 per cent are expected from rural areas with sub-5000 population.

He said the premium income is being largely driven by traditional products, rather than unit-linked plans.

"We believe long-term sustainable growth for the industry can come only by reaching out to more customers which is why our focus is clearly the individual business segment. Further, within individual businesses, we are focusing on regular premium business," Ghosh said.

The company's total premium collection has grown from Rs 224 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 5,497 crore in 2011-12, whereas its asset under management during this period has increased from Rs 402 crore to Rs 18,767 crore.

Reliance Life recorded its first full-year net profit at Rs 373 crore in the last fiscal, during which it sold over 1 million policies.

While noting that the growth patterns may not be as aggressive as they have been in the past, Ghosh said there is still tremendous untapped potential in the country to ensure long-term growth of the domestic insurance industry.