2012 News

SBI LIFE POSTS NET PROFIT OF Rs. 556 Crores, UP BY 52%

Sustained impressive all-round performance:
√  Ranks No.1, amongst private life insurers
√  Ranks No. 1, both in Individual NBP and Group NBP; amongst private life insurers
√  Proposed maiden dividend of 5%
√  Grows Renewal Premium Collection by 23%
√  Increases AUM by 16% 

Mumbai, May 2, 2012: Reflecting on its sustained superior efficiency in business operations, SBI Life Insurance posted a record profit of Rs. 556 Crore, during the financial year ending on 31st March, 2012, an increase of 52% over the last financial year 2010-11. Distinctively, the operational efficiency has been the key driver of SBI Life’s profitability. For the first time, since its inception in 2001, the company proposes to declare a dividend of 5%.

The company is ranked number one amongst private life insurers, in New Business Premium (NBP), for the Financial Year 2011-12, as per the latest report from IRDA. Further, SBI Life emerged leader, both in Individual NBP and in Group NBP amongst its private peers during the period. The company has increased its market share to 19.9% in FY 2011-12, from 19.2% in FY 2010 - 11, among private life insurers.

The new business premium for the company stood at Rs. 6,531 Crore, down by 13%, as compared to private industry’s de-growth of 17% during FY 2011-12. The leading new generation life insurer, collected Rs. 6,602 Crore of Renewal Premium during FY 2011-12, a growth of 23% over the last financial year 2010-11. The persistency level, as per the standard 13-month industry measure, has moved up to 72 %, an increase of 3% points over the corresponding period last year. Consequently, the Gross Written Premium (GWP) collected by company recorded at Rs. 13,133 Crore, a growth of 1%, over the last financial year. The Asset Under Management (AUM) jumped by 16 % to Rs. 46, 576 Crore from Rs 40, 163 Crore as on 31st March, 2011.

Testifying its superior business retention, SBI Life’s Surrender to Average AUM ratio is 7.8%, which is amongst the lowest in the industry.

Mr. M N Rao, MD & CEO, SBI Life Insurance said “We attribute our sound holistic performance to the strength of SBI brand, efficiency and productivity of our distribution channels, customer-centric approach and robust multi-distribution business model. We will continue to strengthen our business practices to accomplish excellence across multiple dimensions of business.”

During the financial year 2011-12, the company uniquely expanded by adding 85 new branches and 618 employees. Despite expanding in continued tough external conditions, the company maintains the lowest “expense to GWP” ratio in industry of 7.8%.

22% of total lives covered by SBI Life are from rural segment which testifies the company’s approach towards life insurance inclusion. Additionally, 1,08,000 lives covered by the company are from the underprivileged social sector. Consequently, the company has substantially exceeded the minimum social and rural regulatory norms.

In line with its customer - centric initiatives, the company launched first - of its kind multi-lingual website across Indian Financial Sector. The multi-lingual website, in key nine Indian languages - Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada and Punjabi, addresses the latent communication need of large Indian population whose usage of internet is increasing rapidly. During the year, the company introduced several new products designed on variety of need-based platforms. These include Health Insurance - Hospital Cash, Variable Insurance - FlexiSmart, Traditional Savings – Smart Money Back and Immediate Annuity - Annuity Plus.

SBI Life continued with its winning streak of bagging numerous coveted recognitions and awards, during the Financial Year 2011-2012. For the second consecutive year, the company won the “NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award, 2011. For excellence in Financial Reporting, SBI Life’s annual report won “Best Presented Accounts Award” from South Asian Federation of Accounts (SAFA) and “”Silver Shield” from Institute of Charted Accountants of India (ICAI). Retaining the ISO 9001:2000 Certification for superior claim process, globally topping the prestigious international MDRT for the third consecutive year, reaffirmation of CRISIL’s AAA and ICRA’s "iAAA" indicating highest claim paying ability are other key distinctions achieved by the company during FY 2011-12. Also, SBI Life was awarded the “Most Trusted” Private Life Insurer, 2011 based on ET – Brand Equity Nielsen Survey. Recently, the company won the prestigious IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Awards, 2011 “Certificate of Merit”.