Good evening to each one of you. Thank you for joining the earnings conference call of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited for quarter 4 and financial year 2024. Let me give you a brief overview of the industry trends and developments that we have witnessed in the past few months. Post this, our CFO, Mr. Gopal Balachandran, will share the financial performance of the company for the quarter and the year ended March 31, 2024. During the quarter, Indian Economy continued its robust growth trajectory, with key high-frequency indicators reflecting healthy economic conditions. For the financial year 2024, India's GDP growth is expected to be 7.6%. Looking ahead, a normal southwest monsoon should support agricultural activity, boost rural demand, and help overall sentiments. However, any worsening of geopolitical tensions or a global slowdown may have an adverse impact.
Now talking about auto industry, private car sales witnessed robust growth for the financial year 2024, aided by improved supply and sustained customer demand. As per SIAM data, over 4.2 million vehicles were sold in the year. The industry also saw a shift in the customer preference from entry-level cars to SUVs. Thus, contribution of SUVs in the private car segment has gone up from 37% to 49% in the last two years. As mentioned in the last earnings calls, an uptick in rural demand saw two-wheeler sales grow by 25% in Q4 to touch 4.5 million. The annual two-wheeler sales also surpassed the financial year 2020 figure and stood at 18 million vehicles. During the year, around 1.7 million commercial vehicles were sold, which was driven primarily by good traction in infra and other core sectors. Health insurance continued to be the largest product segment for the industry.
As per data published in the IRDAI annual report for financial year 2023, the growth in the number of lives has been primarily driven by the group health business, and we expect this trend to continue for financial year 2024 as well. The commercial line of business witnessed growth supported by strong government capital expenditure related to infrastructure development. Consequently, the engineering line of business witnessed a robust growth during the year. We remain optimistic that the industry will continue to grow given the favorable macro regulatory changes, low penetration, and relatively positive consumer sentiments. Coming to performance, the general insurance industry delivered a year-on-year gross direct premium income growth of 12.8% for financial year 2024. Excluding Crop and mass health, the growth stood at 14.8%. Overall, the combined ratio for the industry was at 112.2% for nine-month financial year 2024, as against 116.2% for nine-month financial year 2023.
For motor, the Combined Ratio was at 118.2% for nine-month financial year 2024, as against 121.9% for nine-month financial year 2023. In our last earnings call, we had mentioned improvement in the industry Combined Ratio for motor for H1 financial year 2024 by 400 basis points, 219.4%, from 123.5% for H1 financial year 2023. There has been a further improvement of 300 basis points for quarter 3 only in the Combined Ratio for motor at 115.9%, as against 118.9% during the same period last year. The motor Combined Ratio for private players in Q3 financial year 2024 was at 110.7% versus 111.8% for the same period last year. This improvement indicates a semblance of discipline coming back to the market. As you may be aware, no motor TP hike has been announced for financial year 2025 as yet.
We will be watchful of how the industry responds to this in coming days. Now, I would like to touch upon certain regulatory announcements. On March 20, 2024, after a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework, the authority notified a number of principle-based prescriptions. The new regulations include the notification of all tariffs notified by the erstwhile Tariff Advisory Committee, which continued to be enforced since December 2006. With the de-notification of the existing tariffs, the company is at the liberty to design all the general insurance products in line with its own underwriting policy. This would facilitate insurers to respond faster to the emerging market requirements and to design innovative products to cater to customers' needs. It may be mentioned that the pricing of the motor TP line of business continues to be under the tariff regime.
Rural, social sector, and motor third-party obligations prescribe the minimum insurance business to be undertaken by the insurers. The compliance and measurement of these strategic obligations have been revised in order to enhance the insurance penetration. Bima Sugam Insurance Electronic Marketplace regulations allow for the establishment of a digital public infrastructure, Insurance Electronic Marketplace. With this, the authority has set out a vision of democratizing insurance to achieve the goal of insurance for all by 2047. We believe the regulatory developments are favorable for the industry. I would like to further iterate that as a company, we will continue to leverage the benefits of being a diversified multi-product and multi-distribution organization as we capitalize on the existing and emerging business opportunities in this sector. Now, I will speak about the business impact for us in quarter 4 and financial year 2024.
The profit grew by 22% during quarter 4 financial year 2024. Excluding a one-off transaction in the motor segment last year, growth was 15.8%, which was higher than the industry growth of 9.5% for financial year 2024. The company grew by 17.8% as against the industry growth of 12.8%. Excluding the one-off transaction last year, growth for financial year 2024 was 16.4%. Let me now touch upon our performance in key business segments during the quarter and financial year 2024. In the commercial business segment, we continue to consolidate our market position by leveraging our unique distribution network, enhanced by value-added services, prudent risk-based underwriting, and highly rated reinsurer capacities. During quarter 4 2024, we grew at 11.3% as against an industry growth of 11%. For financial year 2024, we grew at 14.7%, which was higher than the industry growth of 10%.
Further, during the year, we accrued market shares across segments such as fire, marine cargo, engineering, and liability. As we speak, we are at an industry-leading position in the marine cargo and liability line of business while being the second-largest in fire and engineering line of business. Last year, we experienced significant rate hardening in the reinsurance terms in line with global trends. However, as anticipated, the recent April 1st renewals have largely been denied. Motor continues to be the largest contributor to our product mix. Over the year, we have developed strong capabilities across distribution, underwriting, claims, servicing, and accurate practices. Given our presence across all three subsegments of private car, two-wheeler, and CV, we would continue to balance our portfolio mix depending on the market opportunities.
As we saw some discipline return to the market, we scaled up our position in a calibrated manner and consequently entered the year as an industry leader. The growth for us during the quarter was 27.3%. Excluding the one-off transaction last year, the growth for quarter 4 2024 was 13.4% as against the industry growth of 9.6%. For financial year 2024, we grew at 12.3%. Excluding the one-off transaction last year, the annual growth was 8.9% against the industry growth of 12.9%. The growth in the motor segment was aided by strong growth in the new private car segment, which grew at 23% for quarter 4 2024 and 28% for financial year 2024, which was higher than SIAM volume growth of 12% and 8.4% respectively. Our new two-wheeler growth was 11.4% and 13% for financial year 2024, while the SIAM volume growth was 24.9% and 12.3% respectively.
As rural demand picks up, we expect to see the trend continue for two-wheelers. In the new CV segment, we degrew by 2.1% in quarter 4 2024 and 1.9% in financial year 2024, while the SIAM volume growth was 0.1% and 14.4% respectively. For financial year 2024, our mix of private car, two-wheeler, and commercial vehicles stands at 31.4%, 26.8%, and 21.9% respectively. We also continue to build efficiency in motor claims. In quarter 4 2024, we were able to service 70% of our agency and direct claims through Preferred Partner Network, up from 54% in quarter 4 2023. For the next year, we expect mid-single-digit growth in private car sales, while the two-wheeler segment is expected to deliver 8%-10% growth. CV sales are expected to grow in double digits in line with the previous year on account of demand from infrastructure.
The health segment continued to be the fastest-growing segment for the industry. We grew faster than the industry both in quarter 4 and financial year 2024, registering a growth of 29% for the quarter and full year. The group health employer-employee segment, we grew at 31.7% in quarter 4 2024 and 30.3% in financial year 2024. The change in the underlying industry pricing sentiments resulted in customers moving towards insurers with superior servicing capabilities. Our retail health business grew by 21.8% in quarter 4 2024 against the industry growth of 19.9%. For financial year 2024, our retail business grew at 20% and the industry growth at 19.1%. We would continue to invest in this segment in terms of human capital, technology, and knowledge capital to further improve our market share. Our current retail agency manager count stands at 1,600.
We will continue to strengthen our growth lever as we expect to achieve far more in this segment. Our bancas surance and key relationship grew at 16.7% for the quarter and 20.2% for the financial year 2024. Within this, ICICI Group Distribution grew by 39.4% for quarter 4 financial year 2024 and 22.5% for financial year 2024. We will continue to deep mine our existing relationships by creating new value streams and, at the same time, focus on acquiring new relationships. During the year, we added over 80 banking partnerships. In our last call, we spoke about our vision of One IL One Team. Under this one-off initiative that we had outlined in our One IL is our One IL, One Digital strategy. Through this, we aim to consolidate our customer-facing digital assets of our IL TakeCare website and app along with our distribution-facing frontend.
This will allow us to exploit the synergies across all our platforms, which will result in benefits to the company. Our one-stop solution for all insurance and wellness needs, the IL TakeCare app, has surpassed 9.3 million user downloads till date. We continue our growth momentum with 0.8 million user downloads for the quarter. In the same period, we sourced premium over INR 1.13 billion and a premium of INR 3.68 billion for financial year 2024, registering a 3x increase on a year-by-year basis. Our overall customer-facing digital business grew at 29.5% in quarter 4 and 39% in financial year 2024 and constitutes 6.8% and 6% respectively of our overall business. Last week, we announced a strategic tie-up with Policybazaar. Our tie-up is aimed at leveraging the strength of the two institutions to create a superior customer value proposition.
After transitioning to cloud, we have continued to make significant investments on modernization of our technology platforms. Along with this, our core business and technology transformation project, Project Orion , is also underway. Project Orion would entail three pivotal pillars of reimagining processes with a digital-first approach, modernizing technology by shifting away from legacy systems and enhancing stakeholder experience to superior engagement models. We are excited to share that we have kickstarted the transformation journey with some of our preferred line of businesses and are witnessing the initiatives shaping up nicely. We firmly believe Project Orio n will be a key enabler on our vision of One IL One Team. As we embark on the new financial year, we will focus on leveraging our multi-product, multi-distribution strategy.
Through effective use of data, digital advancements, and launching new products, we will maintain focus on scaling up our profit pool while continuing to grow as One IL One Team. Now, I would request Gopal to take you through the financial numbers for the recently concluded quarter and the year.
Thanks, Sanjeev, and good evening to each one of you. I will now give you a brief overview of the financial performance of the recently concluded quarter and financial year. We have uploaded the results presentation on our website. You can access it as we walk you through the performance numbers. During the quarter, ICICI Bank acquired additional equity shares of the company. Consequently, the shareholding of the bank in the company has increased to more than 50%, and the company has become a subsidiary of the bank.
Gross direct premium income of the company was at INR 247.76 billion in FY 2024, as against INR 210.25 billion in FY 2023, a growth of 17.8%, which was higher than the industry growth of 12.8%. Excluding Crop and Mass Health, the GDPI growth of the company was at 17.1%, which was higher than the industry growth of 14.8% in FY 2024. GDPI of the company was at INR 60.73 billion in quarter 4 FY 2024, as against INR 49.77 billion in quarter 4 FY 2023, a growth of 22%. This growth was higher than the industry growth of 9.5%. Excluding Crop and Mass Health, GDPI growth was at 22%, which was again higher than the industry growth of 13.8% in quarter 4 FY 2024. Our GDPI growth during FY 2024 was primarily driven by growth in the preferred segments.
The overall GDPI growth of our property and casualty segment grew by 14.7% at INR 68.51 billion in FY24, as against INR 59.73 billion in FY23. On the retail side of the business, GDPI of the motor segment was at INR 96.34 billion in FY24, as against INR 85.82 billion in FY23, registering a growth of 12.3%. The advance premium was at INR 33.3 billion at March 31, 2024, as against INR 33.04 billion as of December 31, 2023. GDPI of the health segment was at INR 61.71 billion in FY24, as against INR 47.82 billion in FY23, registering a growth of 29.1%. Our agents, which included the point-of-sale distribution count, were at 128,411 as on March 31, 2024, up from 125,088 as on December 31, 2023.
During the year, we witnessed catastrophic events, namely Cyclone Biparjoy , North Indian Floods, and Cyclone Michaung, resulting in a combined ratio of 103.3% for the full year FY24 as against 104.5% for FY23. Excluding the impact of these cat losses of INR 1.37 billion for the full year, the combined ratio would have been at 102.5%. For the quarter, the combined ratio was 102.2% in quarter 4 FY24, as against 104.2% in quarter 4 of FY23. Our investment assets rose to INR 489.07 billion as of March 31, 2024, up from INR 468.67 billion as of December 31, 2023. Our investment leverage, net of borrowing, was 4.09 times as of March 31, 2024, as against 4.11 times as of December 31, 2023. Investment income was at INR 35.26 billion in FY24, as against INR 29.77 billion in FY23.
On a quarterly basis, investment income was at INR 9.3 billion in Q4 this year, as against INR 8.17 billion in Q4 of last year. Our capital gains, net of impairment and investment assets, stood at INR 5.51 billion in FY24 as compared to INR 4.53 billion in FY23. Capital gains, net of impairment and investment assets, stood at INR 1.56 billion in quarter 4 FY24 as compared to INR 1.59 billion in quarter 4 FY23. Our profit before tax grew by 21% at INR 25.55 billion in FY24, as against INR 21.13 billion in FY23, whereas profit before tax grew by 21.9% at INR 6.98 billion in Q4 FY24, as against INR 5.73 billion in Q4 FY23. Consequently, profit after tax grew by 11% at INR 19.19 billion in FY24, as against INR 17.29 billion in FY23. Excluding the impact of reversal of tax provision in Q2 FY23, profit after tax grew by 19.8% in FY24.
Profit after tax grew by 18.9% at INR 5.2 billion in Q4 FY24 from INR 4.37 billion in Q4 FY23. The board of directors has proposed a final dividend of INR 6 per share for FY24. This payment is, however, subject to approval of shareholders in the ensuing annual general meeting of the company. The overall dividend for FY24, including the proposed final dividend, is INR 11 per share. Last year, the overall dividend was INR 10 per share. Return on Average Equity was 17.2% in FY24, as against 17.7% in FY23. Return on Average Equity for the quarter 4 FY24 was 17.8%, as against 17.2% in quarter 4 FY23. Solvency Ratio was at 2.62 times at March 31, 2024, as against 2.57 times as of December 31, 2023, continued to be higher than the minimum regulatory requirement of 1.5 times.
As I conclude, I would like to reiterate that we continue to stay focused on driving profitable growth, sustainable value creation, and safeguarding the interests of policyholders at all times. We would like to thank you all for attending this earnings call, and we'll be happy to take any questions at this point. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to withdraw yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to please use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Shreya Shivani from CLSA. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and congratulations on a good set of numbers. I have three questions. So first is on the overall growth outlook. So health, book for us, has done quite well for the past two years. Since FY22, the growth has been north of 25%, 30%, 40%, right? So expecting some moderation in growth going ahead, what will be the key drivers for growth in FY25-26? Which segments would be driving the majority of the growth? And how much higher than industry growth can we deliver in the years to come? Given that motor segment is still the Combined Ratio is still though there has been an improvement and discipline has come in, but it's still quite a high Combined Ratio for us to for one to expect us to grow very fast in the motor segment. So that's my first question on key growth drivers and how much faster than industry can we grow in FY25-26.
Second is on the motor TP segment. Looking at the reserve triangles, reserving triangles for the motor segment TP segment specifically, so there has been a much higher reserve release in accident year 2018, 2019, 2020. I mean, the trend looks much better than the previous prior year trend. So how should we read this data? Does this also significantly add to your FY24 loss ratio improvement on year-by-year basis apart from more new cars being sold? So that's my second question. And sir, the third question is on the combined ratio. We've done quite well on the combined ratio side already at 100 and for the fourth quarter that has gone by, much better numbers over there. So going ahead, what is our guidance on combined ratio?
One question that I'd also ask at the end with Sanjeev about considering natural calamities as business as usual going ahead, does that change our combined ratio guidance in any way? These are my three questions. Thank you.
So I guess let Gopal take the other one, and I'll tell you overall what is our view.
Yeah. So I think if you look at on the first one, Shreya, I think if you look at it also from an overall market perspective, I think as we have always been saying, we have always been looking at this business in the context of being a multi-product, multi-distribution setup. And therefore, to that extent, different segments of businesses present opportunities for growth maybe at different points of time.
Hence, to that extent, is where I think we have been able to kind of put in place a model in place by which we are able to leverage the growth potential. Which is in that context, when you look at the overall year gone by, I think we have been able to have an outperformance relative to the market growth. If you look at in terms of how we are heading into the next year, I think there's a lot of positive momentum that we see from an overall market perspective as well. One, of course, this slew of regulatory reforms that we spoke as a part of the introductory remarks, I think that augurs well both from a market standpoint and even from the opportunity that it gives for ICICI Lombard, I think is very, very positive.
Second, I think if you look at the thrust that the government is putting on in terms of, in general, looking at significant thrust of infrastructure development, that obviously presents a lot more opportunities on multiple segments of businesses, whether you look at it in the commercial line space, maybe, for example, thrust on engineering projects to begin with. Obviously, to that extent, it kind of aids in logistics, transportation to, again, look at growth profitably. And more importantly, it is also expected to lead to, let's say, a higher number of jobs. And therefore, to that extent, as I said, kind of augurs very well in terms of the opportunity that one sees.
Specific to your point on health, I think as we have always said even in the past, I think the kind of opportunity that one sees in the market, if you look at a few years back, the market was significantly stressed in terms of the loss experience and more importantly, whether you look at it from a combined ratio standpoint. Given that some of the players are already kind of looking at reversing some element of pricing within group health and particularly on the employer-employee side, it obviously kind of augurs well. And that's the reason why you see us continuing to grow disproportionately relative to the market. And even as we head into FY25, we believe health for the industry as well will continue to be by far one of the fastest-growing segments.
Within that, even for ICICI Lombard, we see an opportunity on health both in the group health as well as in the retail health segments. So whether the growth will be continuing to be at 25%, will it slightly get moderated? I think we will obviously wait for things to evolve. But honestly, as we have said even in the past, I don't think from a market perspective, we will continue to see prolonged periods of 25%-30% growth from an industry standpoint. So I think that's something that we will obviously watch for. The second question on yours in terms of the motor third-party reserving triangle, I think it's good that the market is starting to look at the triangle disclosures from an overall market perspective.
I think that, again, augurs well because then every company is being kind of put to appropriate level of scrutiny from a market perspective. And hence, to that extent, it, again, augurs well from an overall market discipline. In terms of some of the, let's say, the releases that we spoke about, I think if you ask us the way I would kind of respond to it is whether have we is there any change in the approach of our reserving philosophy? The approach has not changed. And in line with what we have been speaking even in the earlier quarters, I think the way to look at all the third-party book, as you rightly mentioned, is more on an annual basis.
In fact, if you recollect even last time in the quarterly earnings call, we did speak about a range within which we see the loss experience play out for motor as a category. Just to kind of refresh that, we had said motor own damage loss experience is something that we see in the range of 60%-65%. Motor third-party as a segment, we had said we would be kind of operating at a range between 65%-70%. Both of that blended is where we had said motor as a category would run in that range of 64%-65%.
If you look at the full year numbers, both on motor own damage as well as on motor third party, I think broadly, the outcome of the book that we have been able to underwrite has been within that range that I just kind of refreshed. Having said that, one of the key deliverables that we will obviously watch for, which we put as a part of the introductory remarks, is on motor third party pricing. Now, as we speak, statement of fact is we have not seen a price change. We will watch for development in that space. Therefore, to that extent, the risk selection will continue to be driven by some of the factors that we see as we speak in terms of no price increase thus far. Hence, we will be guided more by that in terms of how we see the opportunity.
The range of loss experiences is a function of what I kind of mentioned. Your last point on Combined Ratio,
I think. Yes. I think Shreya, clearly, I mean, the quarter four numbers on the Combined Ratio, which reads at 102.2 and thereabouts, where does it play? So the overall commentary in terms of what we have spoken, payments available, sectoral reforms which are being initiated by the regulator, we see a play and we do see that we can have an overall 50 basis improvement further to what we had said we will achieve as a team by quarter four of next year. But again, we will keep revisiting and absolutely will keep communicating. But we do see the issues and that kind of an improvement can come in overall for us as an entity.
So what you're saying, basically, by FY 2025, we were targeting 102. That can be 50 basis points lower at 101.5 unless there is some other, and what about the catastrophe events? Are we still watching it or have we come to a conclusion on how we should be dealing with?
Yes. So clearly, I think Gopal also in the past has been mentioning that the frequency of catastrophic events on an annual basis has got increased. Do we factor that when we speak about it? Yes, there is a level of factoring. But like last year was an exceptional one which was more than the factoring. That's why we keep citing in terms of what would have happened if those cat events would not have been in terms of quantum to that extent. Keep going in the business of writing risks at a fundamental level. Do we watch? Do we factor? All of that is part of the process.
But except the extent of the event is something which we all await. We will keep you updated on that part. But there's some element which obviously is baked in when we see that we are overall expecting an improvement of 50 basis points.
Okay, sir. Thank you. This is useful.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to please restrict your questions to two questions per participant. We have the next question from the line of Sanketh Godha from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. I have two key questions. One question is with respect to the regulation. Just my understanding of that new obligation norms on motor TP seems to be more stringent than it was in the previous regime.
So I just wanted to understand whether we would be confident to fulfill the obligation of motor TP in the new norms is the point we wanted to—I mean, just wanted to understand and how you will achieve. That's one question. And second, strategic question which I want to understand is that you have highlighted about IL. But if you want to quantify the number due to IL, what are the synergies you are expecting to see either in the form of GWP growth because you're now aligning agents across the business segment or distribution across the segments, so you expect the synergies? And I mean, quantify the number in terms of GWP, additional GWP, or maybe an additional improvement in the expense ratio because of these synergies? And lastly, on data keeping, if you can share retail and group health loss ratio. And Gopal, two last points. Sorry.
If the TP price hike doesn't come, are you still confident that 65%-70% motor TP loss ratio is achievable or not?
Okay. So I will take the first two and then the other one the data that you're seeking and the last question, Gopal will come in and give it to you. In terms of the new TP regulations that have come in, see, I mean, the insurance, the authority has clearly said that they're looking for insurance for all by 2047. And for that, some initiation has to be done. The contours of how this will emerge for all of us has still to emerge. It's kind of work in progress. But that being said, see, we are multi-line, multi-product, well-distributed, franchise with so much of retail. I mean, we are more familiar with you as an entity humongous. So we are present.
We would definitely back ourselves to achieve the objectives that are set by the regulator. We would be speculating beyond the point as to where we will be placed until we have complete clarity in terms of what's expected from us. That's point number one. Under IL, one theme that we have been talking about and really emphasizing, quantification fundamentally comes with the quarter results that you will see us announcing. We would refrain from attaching finite value because the overall performance is subject to scrutiny, which we keep announcing to all of you. Are we excited in terms of seeing both top line and cost getting controlled in a relatively better manner? The answer is yes, definitely. We do believe coming quarters will accrue. We will not be culling it out and calling that this has happened because of this.
Overall, the efficiency of the company will be reflected in how we perform as an entity. There are multiple other aspects that come. We may have some genuine savings. We may choose to reinvest also that. We would not like to dwell on those aspects.
Sanketh, Sanketh, you gave a 50 basis points better guidance than what it was last year. Is it because of this IL what you are trying to?
Again, see, Sanketh, what I would again rush into, I get from where your excitement is coming from, this would be one of the contours. We have always maintained that the industry sentiment also has to move in the positive direction. We have always maintained the fact that we would be an output of where the overall industry growth is and how our own placement is.
So is this an element that comes in and binds us together as an organization? 110% answer is yes. But to quantify from this output, this much has come because of 1L, 1T will not be fair is all I'm saying. So there are multiple things that go in that. For the other two questions that you had, I'll ask Gopal to revert to you.
Yeah. So Sanketh, on the health loss numbers, again, I will give you Q4 numbers first and then I will give you the full year numbers. Q4 on the GHI, which is employer-employee segment, this is for quarter four of last year, which is FY23. That number is at 93.2%. That number for quarter four of this year is at 88.1%.
On a full year basis, for the same segment, I think the range that we have spoken about is to operate in the range of 94%-95%. If you look at FY23, the overall loss ratio on the GHI side was 95.2%. This year, we are at about 93.7%. On retail health, again, just to kind of refresh what we have talked about even in the past several quarters is we are comfortable operating in the loss ratio range, which is between 65%-70%. In that context, when you look at the quarter four FY23 numbers, retail, which is on the indemnity side, that loss ratio was about 61%. That number for quarter four of this year is at 64.6%. On a full year basis, last year number was 64.1%. The current year number is at about 65.4%.
So that's in response to your second point on the health loss numbers. The last question of yours in terms of whether the range that I spoke about of 65%-70% in the context of motor third party so again, I think that's the range that we have kind of largely operated at. I think the only factor that I would say is in line with, again, what we have been speaking even in the past few quarters, as in to say that what we are seeing on ground is also maybe an increased preference of the courts to start giving compensation in favor of the victims of the insured. And therefore, so that's a trend that we will obviously observe.
The other factor which would again which we have again spoken of, which would be directionally positive, is also this whole six-month law limitation in terms of how that gets played out. Last year, of course, we did see some developments. Finally, as we have been saying, the matter is presently at the Supreme Court. Once the verdict comes out, I think we will again have to see in terms of how that plays gets played out on ground. So hence, there are again balancing forces in terms of ones that could possibly see or reflect an increase in the loss experience. That's clearly then it's up to us in terms of what kind of risk selection do we do. The second is more a positive benefit, at least for ICICI Lombard from an overall RoE attractiveness standpoint.
And hence, to that extent, that should kind of aid us in terms of maintaining the loss ratio range of 65%-70%. So there are a lot of moving parts. Now, at this point of time, I think we would want to kind of stick with the 65%-70% range. And of course, we will see some of these factors in terms of how that gets played out through the year.
Perfect, Gopal. Thanks for your responses. Thank you.
Thanks, Sanketh. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nitesh from Investec. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. First question is on IFRS. So any update, what are the timelines for the expected implementation of IFRS and what will be the impact on our P&L and balance sheet of IFRS?
So Nitesh, I think again, in line with what I had mentioned even in the last earnings call, I think we had said that we are pretty much progressing well in terms of doing the impact assessment, making sure that we get ourselves ready for the implementation which is effective from FY 2025-26 financial year. Even last quarter, we did say that we will come back in maybe a couple of quarters' time frame. So honestly, internally, while we are doing all of those and also watching for the developments in terms of all the necessary guidelines and standards getting issued in the context of the IFRS transition. So therefore, at this point of time, too early to call out.
As I've always maintained, I think we have clearly spoken about three or four key areas or aspects which is where we would likely to see the impact of transition play out in the context of IFRS. That doesn't change, whether it is in terms of acquisition cost, whether it is in terms of discounting of reserves, whether it is in terms of mark-to-market on the investment book. Maybe for a few set of companies which have kind of issued, let's say, stock units or stock options, so there will be an element of cost through the earnings. Those are three or four key areas where one would see an impact of the transition play out. Specifically to call out, I think we will come back and obviously keep all of you updated in terms of where we are on the IFRS transition.
Sure, sure. And secondly, in terms of solvency ratio, we are operating at a significantly higher number versus the recommended threshold. And our ROEs have also now improved to 17%-18%. So do you think of better utilization of capital going forward?
No, of course. That's obviously something that we kind of it's something that we always look for. I think one of the factors that you see which also led to, let's say, improvement in solvency and, of course, improvement in earnings over the last few years has been our approach to as what Sanjeev has also been talking about, is to sustain profitable growth as a theme. And hence, let's say, relative to the market, I think we have been slightly going slow on some of the segments. And therefore, to that extent, we have not been able to completely utilize the solvency capital.
What we are seeing is what we kind of put out as a part of the introductory remark, which is to say that on ground, we are seeing semblance coming back in some of the segments where we have been a bit cautious. And therefore, to that extent, as we see, let's say, incremental growth play out in line with our approach to continue to grow as well as kind of remain profitable, obviously, there will be consumption of capital that one would see in terms of the way forward. And secondly, I think the approach or the philosophy that ICICI Lombard has always worked with is to be slightly more prudent in terms of the level of solvency that we want to maintain given the fact that the Indian market still continues to operate on a solvency-one regime.
While again, thanks to the regulator, they have been significantly working on getting the market again transitioned to a risk-based capital regime, obviously, we will get to know more in terms of the firm date of implementation in terms of the transition. So hence, that's something again that we will see in terms of how does that result into insofar as the consumption of capital is concerned. So while we do see growth opportunities, and hence, to that extent, we believe we will continue to use the capital judiciously.
So I understand. Lastly, on the provision for diminution in value of investment of around INR 68 crore, what is the reason for that? And when we disclose the capital gain number, that is excluding this.
Please rejoin the queue for follow-up questions.
Okay, sure.
All right. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Prayesh Jain from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Good evening. So firstly, just a clarification. When you say 101.5 as a guidance, that is for the exit rate of Q4 of next year or it's for the full year? Secondly, if I just going back to one of the previous questions on the motor TP business, on the obligation, if the share of CV goes up, do you still believe that that 65%-70% guidance can be maintained? And within that, Gopal, time and again, we've seen Q4 loss ratios increase sequentially for motor TP. Is it just because of the adverse judgments that come in Q4, or what is it that really gives that kind of a loss ratio uptrend in every fourth quarter? Yeah. I think those are my two questions, yeah.
Yeah. Maybe I'll take the TP loss ratio part first. I think whenever there is, let's say, possible reduction in the TP loss ratios, the questions get asked the other way around. And therefore, to that extent, I think I have always kind of maintained that this is a book which is much more long-tailed in terms of loss development. And therefore, to that extent, given the nature of the business, you will always see cyclicality/fluctuations in the loss experience of the book in terms of its outcome.
So therefore, which is why I keep harping on looking at the numbers, ideally over longer term, but definitely not between quarters. Look at it more on an annual basis. And as I keep saying, again, there are various factors that influences, let's say, the loss experience of the book. So hence, to that extent, you will get to see fluctuations in the TP loss ratios across quarters.
On a full year basis is what I spoke about in terms of trying to maintain us operating at a segment I mean, segment loss ratio in that range of 65%-70%. Now, coming back to your second part of the question in terms of linked to motor third party is the obligation. Now, obviously, the obligation is something that is applicable to industry at large. Therefore, as a company, I mean, we have to make sure that we kind of meet those obligations. I'm sure we will have in place a plan by virtue of which we are able to meet the regulatory expectations.
I think the thought process in terms of where the regulator is coming out with the need to bring about this change is again very, very positive because the whole thought process is to try and make sure that the industry kind of comes under the ambit of insurance. And to that extent, that's very, very positive. And if you are able to do as an industry, if you're able to work collectively and maybe bring the larger set of, let's say, uninsured vehicles within the ambit of insurance, that to my mind is a great positive. And hence, to that extent, I think we would obviously work and make sure that we are able to meet those obligations on the third-party side. To the first part on the Combined Ratio part, I think obviously, yes.
I think directionally, the lens that we have talked about, Nitesh's, Prayesh's, that we have been saying that directionally, the trajectory for us is to bring down the combined over a period of time. And obviously, this has to be looked at in the context of how we see the market environment operate at, which is why I think even as a part of the introductory remark, we did point out to say that the market is clearly showing signs of at least from the reported numbers on a nine-month basis, there is almost a 400 basis point improvement in combined from an overall market perspective. And within that, one of the key segments which has been a larger contributor of significant competitive intensity has been motor. Now, that's again a segment which is again not just on a half-yearly basis.
Even if you look at the quarter three numbers for the market, that's again shown an improvement of almost about 300 basis points, which is why I think we kind of put out to say that there seems to be some kind of a semblance coming back. And that's also getting reflected in terms of the growth numbers that many of these players were exhibiting in terms of competitive aggression. Clearly, you can see a lot many players are starting to kind of pull back. So that gives us possibly some kind of a confidence in terms of how do we look at achieving that combined objective that we laid out.
And hence, to that extent, even in the past, I think what we have maintained is I mean, if the market environment is favorable, there is no reason why we would not be able to accelerate the expectations of combined. That is where we are. That is why we stand. In all fairness, we hope to kind of achieve the thought process that we laid out from a combined perspective.
So it's for the full year, right? That's the clarification I was making.
So as we stand, and surely we'll be in touch on this, Prayesh. We believe the exit would be overall within 50 days less. There are serious plans of investments also. We would continue to update as the quarters unfold because, as Gopal said, these are early signs that makes us optimistic and see the visibility of this. But there are multiple things that will unfold. As of now, in our mind, it would be probably exit by quarter four, is where we would see this. If it gets further accelerated, we'll come back and connect with you all by end of quarter one of this year.
Great. Thanks and all the best.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Madhukar Ladha from Nuvama Wealth. Please go ahead.
Hi. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. So most of my questions have been answered. I wanted to understand investment yields have improved again this quarter. And even if we exclude the capital gains, we're doing quite well. So what is the number that we should be sort of looking at in this? And what is the duration? How are we driving this, actually? That's one question on my end. Thank you.
Sure, Madhukar. Gopal, yeah.
So again, Madhukar, I think again, I would kind of respond to this in the context of I'm sure you guys know this far better. I think obviously, investments have to be looked at in terms of its return profile over a period of time. And hence, to that extent, is how what we keep saying is to look at market opportunities in terms of having a blended mix of the right asset classes between both fixed income and equity. And that's what we have been kind of looking at over the period of time in terms of realizing the opportunity. Now, specifically to answer your point on what led to, let's say, the increase in the interest yield or, let's say, the overall return on the portfolio, it is in line with the higher interest rate regime that we have seen. And obviously, one leverages the opportunity.
Even if you look at historical past in terms of what kind of a mix of our overall returns have been in terms of interest accruals to, let's say, capital gains, that mix has broadly been on the interest accrual side in the range of 75%-80%. On the capital gain side, a number that could range between 15%-20%, 20%-25% around that kind of a threshold. Hence, to that extent, is how we see the opportunity play out. Specifically, if you look at our yield to maturity on the fixed income side, the yield to maturity currently stands at about 7.4%. That's the opportunity that one was able to seize in the market. Now, can we sustain this? Obviously, we will have to wait and see how the interest rate cycle play out.
There are clear expectations that you will start seeing some kind of a rate reduction cycle play through at some point of time. Again, we are positioned well even to capitalize that opportunity. But what would happen at those points is our ability to reinvest those realized flows will obviously get invested at a lower return on the accrual side. But obviously, we are well positioned to capitalize the opportunity from a capital gains standpoint. And therefore, now to answer your point on the overall range of returns that we can operate with, again, if you look at FY23, I think the overall return on the realized book was roughly at about 7.5%. This number, if you look at for FY24, was roughly at about 7.98, closer to 8%.
I mean, internally, the range that we kind of run with is to kind of give a return profile between 7%-7.5%. But over our last now that we are almost into the 23rd, 24th year of operations, I think the return profile has been definitely better than that particular range. So that's the range that we would be comfortable with. And hence, to that extent, is where we would like to operate at.
Thanks. Thanks, Gopal. Very helpful. Thank you.
Thanks, Madhukar.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now take the last question for today from the line of Aditi Joshi from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Sure. Thank you for taking my question. Just one follow-up question, which I wanted to understand from you on the investment intensity in the channel. So for the full year 2025, what is the outlook has been. Of the investments in the channel? In terms of the intensity, are you going to increase further, or just wait for the investments in the last couple of years to fructify? And then just some guidance on that will be helpful.
So Aditi, again, if you look at I think what we put out, even as a part of the introductory comment, is I think just to kind of refresh again, I think we always look at ourselves as a multi-distribution company. And therefore, to that extent, is how we see opportunity play out across different channels. If you ask us, would we stay entrenched with each of these channels, the answer is a clear yes.
I think insofar as, let's say, as we see new motor vehicle sales gaining momentum, and therefore, to that extent, obviously, we will kind of leverage on the access/partnership that we have been able to create historically of working with OEMs/more importantly, the dealership touchpoints. And that's the reason if you look at across years, the proportion of dealership access that we have had out of the total number of dealerships as a country again, just to kind of refresh, that number used to be between 50%-55% at the time when we did our listing. Currently, we have been able to reach that number closer to slightly upwards of 65% in terms of the total number of dealerships. So that will continue to be an important channel of distribution. Agency, which kind of encompasses between motor, health, SME, has always been an area of opportunity.
That's a segment which, obviously, we have been kind of expanding a lot more. Clearly, we have seen benefits of the investments play out, whether you look at on SME. I think the growth rates over the last several years have been very good. Agency motor, I think that's a segment where we have talked about trying to create a balanced mix between dealership, agency, and, let's say, our direct distribution. So hence, to that extent, obviously, we will continue to leverage on motor agency specifically. In specific, since we're talking in the context of agency, retail health is always a positive opportunity that one sees. That's the reason why we put out that number of the headcount that we have on our own health agency managers, which is currently at about 1,600. We would want to continue to see expansion in that particular space.
So you will obviously see a lot more expansion initiatives being undertaken in the context of retail health. And therefore, to that extent, that should logically translate into an improved market share in that particular segment. While even this year, we would have loved to have done better. But honestly, we have not been able to completely leverage the opportunity that one sees. But given the fact that we have been able to strengthen our leadership team as well, I think one would expect a lot more to happen in terms of expanding distribution, launching new products, and obviously, strengthening the technology deliverables. So agency will continue to be a very, very important channel of sourcing. And Sanjeev, in the last earnings calls, did speak about one IL, one digital channel. And therefore, that will again continue to be a very, very important channel of sourcing.
If you look at just from the current year standpoint, the overall contribution of the digital opportunity that spans across IL TakeCare, website, alliance partners, etc., etc., that contribution has been almost in the range of about 6%-7% of the overall revenues. That's again kind of compounding well in excess of almost about 20% year-on-year. All in all, I think it is going to be a combination of all channels. I think there is going to be thrust of investments in each of them. If you ask me which channel will by far gain the maximum traction, obviously, retail health is an area where we would want to kind of significantly leverage faster. Then, of course, we have the digital opportunity that one sees. Then we will continue to leverage on the other channels.
And more importantly, I did miss one of them, which is the bank partnerships. I think again, that will be a very, very important area of sourcing. And within that, ICICI Group will be a very, very important contribution for us. And hence, we would obviously want to leverage on each of these channels of distribution.
Sure. Thank you very much. Can I just squeeze in one more? Can you please share your outlook of the health pricing both in the retail and the group? That would be helpful. Thank you. Outlook on health? Pricing.
Pricing?
The health insurance pricing, yeah, in both the retail segment as well as in the group.
I think it's a functional loss issue. And as you said, we will continue to be a prudent underwriter in both the segments.
Most of the industry, including us, have taken a hike on the retail health side last year. We would believe, as things stand, we would like to operate in this range. While we will obviously keep revisiting in terms of frequency as well as the loss ratio that comes along with it, but that's what our view on retail health is. The group health is far more dynamic and driven by multiple factors in the market. Is it holding up overall? Yes. There has been some bit of a discipline that continues to exist. If that's what stays, then we would obviously stay relevant. If it does not work out for us, we would not hesitate to move away and let go of that business if it's not making sense. That clarity we have. We always maintain and I, again, reiterate that profit pools keep moving.
And accordingly, we have to be agile as an organization. We will take those calls because we want to, to the best of our effort, want to ensure that we deliver what the market is expecting with us to the multiline, multiproduct company like us.
Thank you very much.
Than ks, Aditi.
Thank you. Thank you. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjeev Mantri for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Yes. No, thank you so much for joining then. It's an auspicious day of Ram Navami and probably some of your holidays. It's always a pleasure interacting with all of you. The opportunity, as it stays, the momentum that we have developed, we are excited about the opportunity ahead. Look forward to interacting with you in time to come. And all the best. Take care. Thank you so much.