LIC clocks 60% growth in fresh biz premiums in July

(www.thehindubusinessline.com)
Private players 11% in negative.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Sept. 4 Are private sector life insurance companies losing steam in garnering
new business vis-a-vis their State-owned rival? The insurance regulator’s data seem to
suggest so.

Thanks to Life Insurance Corporation of India’s robust performance in July the life
insurance industry clocked a 29 per cent growth in fresh business premiums.

LIC posted a 60 per cent growth in fresh business premiums against a negative 11 per
cent growth registered by the private players. India’s biggest life insurer collected Rs
5,237 crore in fresh premiums in July against Rs 3,273 crore in the same period last year.

The Corporation also improved its market share to 69 per cent, up from 63 per cent in
June. In the first quarter, LIC’s fresh business premiums grew by 20 per cent.

For the life insurance industry, the first quarter is not a very good indicator of the year
ahead and the real business starts from July, said a senior LIC official.

Among the established private sector players, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Bajaj
Allianz Life Insurance, ING Vysya Life Insurance, Birla Sun Life Insurance, Kotak Life
Insurance showed negative growth in July. They had negative growth even in June. The
exceptions were — HDFC Standard Life, SBI Life Insurance and Max New York Life —
which had posted a negative growth in June, but turned around their performance and
registered a positive growth in July.

However, Reliance Life Insurance and IDBI Fortis Life Insurance posted a negative
growth in July after reporting a positive growth in June.