Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. A very warm welcome to ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited's Q2 and H1 FY 2025 earnings conference call. From the senior management team, we have with us today Mr. Sanjeev Mantri, MD and CEO of the company, Mr. Gopal Balachandran, CFO, Mr. Girish Nayak, Chief Technology and Health Underwriting and Claims, Mr. Sandeep Goradia, Chief Corporate Solutions Group, and Mr. Anand Singhi, Chief Retail and Government Business. Please note that any statements or comments made in today's call that may look like forward-looking statements are based on information presently available to the management and do not constitute an indication of any future performance, as future involves risks and uncertainties which would cause the results to differ materially from the current views being expressed.
As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference, please signal the operator by pressing star and then zero on your touchtone phone. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjeev Mantri, MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you. Good evening to each one of you. Thank you for joining the earnings conference call of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited for quarter two and H1, financial year 2025. Let me give you a brief overview of the industry trends and developments that we have witnessed in the ensuing months. Post this, our CFO, Mr. Gopal Balachandran, will share the financial performance of the company for the quarter and a half year ended September 30th, 2024. During the quarter one, 2025, India's real GDP grew by 6.7%, primarily driven by private consumption. Moving into the Q2 of financial year 2025, the government expenditure started witnessing an uptick. GST collections continued to remain steady in Q2, and the direct tax collections are growing at a decent pace.
This will provide much needed support to retail spending in the upcoming festive season. Further, a normal monsoon may help drive rural demand in coming months. Nevertheless, the current situation in West Asia region and a substantial increase in crude prices remains a major risk for the overall economic growth. Speaking of general insurance performance, the industry delivered a GDPI growth of 7% for H1 of financial year 2025 over H1 of financial year 2024, impacted by quarter two financial year 2025 growth of 2%. However, excluding crop and mass health segments, the industry registered growth at 10.9% for H1 of 2025 and 6.9% for quarter two financial year 2025. Now, talking about the auto industry, growth for the quarter was muted as reported by SIAM.
Private cars with higher base degrew at 1.8%, two-wheelers grew at 12.6%, and EVs grew at 3.2%. This entails approximately 2.1 million private cars, 10.2 million two-wheelers and 0.8 million EVs being sold in H1 of 2025. Further, the retail numbers, as reported by FADA, has also seen degrowth for private cars at 5.1%, two-wheeler growth at 4.7%, and EV growth remained muted at 1.1% for quarter two financial year 2025. The health segment during the quarter continued to deliver double-digit growth, largely driven by retail business, registering growth of 17.7%. The growth in the group business was moderated due to pricing pressure, and the health business was impacted due to relatively muted disbursement by financial institutions.
The commercial line segment during the quarter was a mixed bag, with industry growth at 2%, while fire segment degrew at 10.7% on account of pricing pressure. However, government spend on infrastructure development and acceleration in private sector investment has brought positive growth, especially in segments such as engineering, liability and marine. The regulatory environment continues to focus on policyholders' interest while fostering innovation, competition and sustainable growth for the industry, thereby reinforcing the authority's vision of insurance for all by 2047 . Overall, for the medium to long term, we remain positive that the general insurance industry will continue to grow given the favorable regulatory changes, low penetration and rising disposable income.
Now, speaking of the underwriting performance of the industry, the combined ratio for the industry remained at 113.9% for quarter one financial year 2025, as against 113.5% for quarter one financial year 2024. For the motor business, the industry's combined ratio worsened to 125.6% in quarter one financial year 2025, from 121% in quarter one 2024. This can be largely attributed to the increase in loss ratios. Now, let me update you on performance of key business segments for us. The company's GDPI for quarter two financial year 2025 grew by 10.4% as compared to the industry growth of 2%. Excluding crop and marine, the company grew by 9.4% as compared to the industry growth of 6.9%.
In the commercial line segment, we grew at 1.22% as against industry growth of 2%. We continue to maintain leadership position in engineering, liability and marine cargo segment. However, in the fire segment, we remain vigilant in terms of risk selection while maintaining a market share. In motor segment during the quarter, we registered a growth of 16.1% as against the industry growth of 6.2%. The overall growth in motor segment in the quarter was aided by growth in all business. We continue to maintain a market share leadership with robust capabilities across distribution and writing claims, servicing and actuarial practices. During the quarter, we sustained a balanced portfolio with a mix of private car, two-wheeler and CV at 54.4%, 24.6% and 21% respectively.
Our preferred partner network enabled us to service 72.8% of our non-OEM claims in quarter two of 2025, up from 63.4% in quarter two of financial year 2024. The health segment grew at 12.3% in quarter two, financial year 2025, led by retail health. We registered a growth of 41.4% in quarter two, 2025, as against industry growth of 17.7% in the retail health segment. Our growth in quarter two was supported by our recently launched product, Elevate. Our market share for retail health segment has now reached 3.5% in quarter two of financial year 2025. In the group health employer-employee segment, we took a cautious approach due to increased competitive intensity.
Consequently, we grew by 1% in quarter two, financial year 2025, as compared to growth of 34.6% in quarter one of financial year 2025. During the quarter, our bancassurance business grew by 2.6% due to lower credit disbursement growth in our key relationship partners. Within this, ICICI Group distribution grew by 19.6% for quarter two of financial year 2025, due to our continued strategic focus on bancassurance business. We continue to strengthen our digital business. During the quarter, our customer-facing digital business grew by 14.7%, constituting 6.3% of our overall GDPI. Our investment in new customer acquisition strategy through website led to a growth in fresh business of motor and health segment by 45.9% in quarter two, financial year 2025.
Our one-stop solution for all insurance and wellness needs, the IL TakeCare app, has surpassed 11.6 million user downloads till date, registering a premium of INR 55,556.8 million for the quarter. As discussed in our previous call, we continue to harness synergies through One IL, One Team. Under this one, one of our initiatives, One IL, One Call Center, we have consolidated multiple call centers into three specialized teams, fresh acquisition, renewals, and servicing to drive improvement in operational efficiencies and the overall customer experience. Additionally, our investment in CRM technology and AI tools have further increased productivity by high teens and improved customer service, particularly in retail, health, and motor segments.
In conclusion, we continue to strengthen our multi-product, multi-distribution strategy, led by our focus on product innovation, data analytics, and digital enhancements. These initiatives, coupled with the spirit of One IL, One Team, position us well to capitalize on future opportunities and drive profitable growth. I will now request Gopal to take you through the financial numbers for the recently concluded quarter and half 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 half year. We have uploaded the results presentation on our website. You can access it as we walk you through the performance numbers. Gross direct premium income of the company was at INR 144.09 billion in H1 FY 2025, as against INR 124.72 billion in H1 FY 2024, a growth of 15.5% against the industry growth of 7%. Excluding crop and mass health, GDPI growth of the company was at 15%, which was higher than the industry growth of 10.9% in H1 FY 2025.
GDPI was at INR 67.21 billion in Q2 FY 2025, as against INR 60.86 billion in Q2 FY 2024, a growth of 10.4%. This again, was higher than the industry growth of 2%. Excluding crop and mass health, GDPI growth of the company was at 9.4%, which was higher than the industry growth of 6.9% in quarter two, FY 2025. Our GDPI growth during the quarter was mainly driven by preferred lines of businesses. On the retail side of the business, GDPI of the motor segment was at INR 24.82 billion in Q2 FY 2025, as against INR 21.38 billion in Q2 FY 2024, registering a growth of 16.1%.
The advanced premium number was INR 35.13 billion as at September 30, 2024, as against INR 34.56 billion as at June 30, 2024. GDPI of the health segment was at INR 15.29 billion in Q2 FY 2025, as against INR 13.62 billion in Q2 FY 2024, again registering a growth of 12.3%. Our agents, which includes the point of sale distribution, count was INR 133,683 as on September 30, 2024, up from INR 131,021 as at June 30, 2024. The overall GDPI of our commercial lines segment grew by 1.2% at INR 14.93 billion in Q2 FY 2025, as against INR 14.76 billion in Q2 FY 2024.
During the quarter, the industry witnessed multiple catastrophic events, namely floods in Andhra, Telangana, North India, Gujarat, et cetera, et cetera, impacting our combined ratios, which was 103.2% for H1 FY 2025, as against 103.8% for H1 FY 2024. Excluding this impact of CAT losses, which was INR 0.94 billion in H1 FY 2025 and INR 0.83 billion in H1 FY 2024, the combined ratios were 102.2% and 102.7% respectively. Combined ratio was 104.5% in Q2 FY 2025, as against 103.9% in Q2 FY 2024. Again, excluding the impact of CAT losses, primarily, we had the CAT losses in Q2 this year, which was again INR 0.94 billion and INR 0.48 billion in Q2 FY 2024.
The combined ratio was 102.6% and 102.8% respectively. Our investment assets during the quarter rose to INR 515.57 billion as at September 30, 2024, up from INR 510.04 billion as at June 30, 2024. Our investment leverage net of borrowings was 3.91x as at September 30, 2024, as against 4.14x as at June 30, 2024. Investment income was at INR 22.52 billion in H1 FY 2025, as against INR 18 billion in H1 FY 2024. On a quarterly basis, investment income was at INR 11.24 billion in Q2 FY 2025, as against INR 9.56 billion in Q2 FY 2024.
Our capital gains, net of impairment on investment assets, stood at INR 5.21 billion in H1 FY 2025, as against INR 2.82 billion in H1 FY 2024. Capital gains net of impairment on investment assets for the quarter two FY 2025 stood at INR 2.37 billion, as compared to INR 1.65 billion in Q2 FY 2024. Our profit before tax grew by 31.9% at INR 16.93 billion in H1 FY 2025, as against INR 12.84 billion in H1 FY 2024. Whereas PBT grew by 20.3% at INR 9.19 billion in Q2 FY 2025, as against INR 7.64 billion in Q2 FY 2024.
Consequently, profit after tax grew by 31.7% at INR 12.74 billion in H1 FY 2025, as against INR 9.68 billion in H1 FY 2024. Profit after tax again grew by 20.2% for this quarter to FY 2025 at INR 6.94 billion, up from INR 5.77 billion in Q2 FY 2024. Return on average equity was 20.3% in H1 FY 2025, as against 18% in H1 FY 2024. The return on average equity for Q2 FY 2025 was 21.8%, as against 21.1% in Q2 FY 2024.
Solvency ratio was healthy at 2.65x a s at September 30, 2024, as against 2.56x as of June 30, 2024, continued to be higher than the minimum regulatory requirement of 1.5x . The board of directors of the company has declared an interim dividend of INR 5.5 per share for H1FY 2025, as against INR 5 per share, which was for H1FY 2024. As I conclude, I would like to reaffirm that we continue to stay focused on driving sustainable value creation and profitable growth while protecting the interest of policyholders at all times. I would like to thank you all for attending this earnings call, and we will now be happy to take any questions that you have. 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 wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Shreya Shivani from CLSA. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. I have two questions. First is on the net commission rate for the quarter. It seems like it's slightly elevated when I compare it to the second quarter of last year. Could it be because of higher sales in the retail health segment? Have we changed our commission structure in that product, or is it just because the product mix has shifted more towards that space, that segment? That's the first question. And second, sir, majority of the rise in the combined ratio in this quarter has been because of the catastrophic losses. So, will we still hold on to our guidance of being able to touch 101.5 as a closing combined ratio in 4Q25? Given that majority is from catastrophe and in case we don't see any more subsequent flooding, so just the guidance around that? Thank you.
Yeah, I think Gopal will answer the first one, and I'll talk about the guidance part.
Yeah, so Shreya, I think you're absolutely right. I think so far as the net commission ratio numbers are concerned, it's obviously a function of the mix of business that you underwrite. And as you would have seen, I think our approach to writing business as what we put out also as a part of the opening transcript was to drive profitable growth. And therefore, in that context, when you look at the mix of business, largely what we've been able to drive is profitable businesses in motor and the retail health segment in specific.
And relative to that, I think our growth in, let's say, the group health/commercial line has been relatively muted, and that's clearly a factor that has contributed to, let's say, the change in the net commission ratio. Given the fact that we have also been a bit cautious on the commercial line, there is also some bit of impact insofar as reinsurance commissions are concerned, so because the ratio is on a net commission basis, so therefore it is a factor of both change in business mix, as well as, let's say, our approach to being a bit cautious on the commercial line side, which is what has contributed to the net commission numbers.
To your point on have we changed anything insofar as, commission structures are concerned, I think the short answer is, I think we keep looking for market opportunities in terms of how we want to write businesses. But at an aggregate level, I think what we stand committed is to kind of make sure that from an expense of management standpoint, which includes both commission plus operating expenses, both of that put together, as a company, we stand committed to make sure that we are well within the limit of, 30% at an aggregate level. Sanjeev?
So overall, you're right. The CAT event in the quarter two has impacted the loss ratio by 1.9% and thereabout. Otherwise, overall, the combined ratio of the company, if net of CAT event is looked at, that's shown an improvement. In terms of the guidance, as things stand, we have no reason to change the guidance at this point of time. We very keenly will look at the industry numbers also as they come out on the quarter two and the H1 P&L. I spoke about in my own script, which I said, that the quarter one number for the industry has come out relatively status quo, while we used to have a YoY improvement last year.
But that also has come on account of elevated loss ratio and little bit of impact on account of expenses. We stay committed. We have no reason to, at this point of time, deviate from it. We do look at the intensity and the landscape that you see in the commentary overall as to what's happening on the commercial line of business. We grew GHC business at almost 31% and thereabout. We, end of quarter two, again, we look at the numbers, we have gone down, and we clearly do understand that these are all changes.
The fire business has had gone through a bit of a concern in terms of where the discounting has increased again. We've abstained from any wild participation, and still we've been able to maintain a market share on each of these business lines. So yes, we stay committed to that, but we continue to watch the market scenario.
I think so, just to only add to that, Shreya, I think what we would say is, in fact, we will start seeing this impact felt from an overall market as well. and if you would have seen, in general, given our ability to deselect portfolios, our exposure from some of these CAT events have been relatively lower compared to the natural market share that we have had as a company.
Mm-hmm.
Hence, a large part of this change, consequent to the cat losses, will also be reflected from a market perspective at the time of the reinsurance renewals that will start happening from the next year. In fact, the real impact is somethin that you will start seeing from an industry standpoint at the time of the reinsurance renewals, which will kick in for next year.
Got it, understood. So you're saying your reinsurance, your catastrophe reinsurance will be priced worse off for us, for the industry going ahead, right? Because of the numbers.
These are events that are playing out, right? So honestly, to ask us, could we have anticipated, let's say, about four events coming and hitting us at an industry level in one quarter? The short answer is no.
Mm.
And with, let's say, wavering weather patterns that you're seeing across periods.
Yeah.
Honestly, I think one will have to kind of wait and see how this develops, and then maybe as things move forward, we will be able to start giving you better insights. Yeah.
Got it. Very useful. Thank you so much, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to please restrict your questions to two questions per participant. You may rejoin the queue for follow-up questions. We have the next question from the line of Prayesh Jain from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, good evening, everyone. Just a question on the motor segment. So in our last quarter, you had mentioned about the growth in new versus old. So it'll be great if you could share a similar trajectory for H1. And just an extension to that, whether you know if the growth in the renewal or the older business of the new vehicle has been stronger, what are the drivers for the same that you have been kind of being able to get more growth there? And second question would be on the motor outlook again.
You mentioned in the opening remarks that the growth has been slowing down in terms of number of vehicles, and so do you see, and whatever the outlook that we are hearing is that its outlook is also going to be muted in the second half. Even for festive season, the demand outlook is not expected to be great. So what kind of growth trajectory should we anticipate for the motor segment, especially in the H2? Yeah, this is my question.
Prayesh, on the first one, I think, if you recollect what we had said in quarter one, when the aggregate growth in motors for us was about 26%. At that point of time, we had said the growth in new was about 16, and the growth in renewal was roughly about 33%, and given what we had talked about as a part of this opening transcript, in terms of, as you rightly indicated, new being relatively muted, pretty much on similar lines, I think if you ask us for quarter two, the growth in new has been flattish, and the large part of the growth of that 16% that we spoke about has been significantly aided by growth in the renewal book or let's say the old book, which has grown at almost about 26%, so that's a split.
This is specifically in the context of quarter two, vis-a-vis what we had seen in Q1. To your point on what's driving, let's say, some of this growth, I think, As a company, I think we have always been kind of looking at which we have spoken about even on earlier calls. I think while we stay invested in obviously leveraging our relative strength on OEM/dealership partnerships, but at the same time, we have also been significantly investing on our agency other distributions as well. And in that context, our strength on distribution, service, use of technology, all of that is what is kind of significantly aiding the growth in the renewal book.
Yes.
Plus, equally, if you recollect, what we also talked about was also to kind of significantly move into, let's say, a One IL, One Call Center initiative, under which we would, we had wanted to kind of, which is also what we put out as a part of the opening transcript, to kind of also have a significant focus as one of the streams in so far as retentions are concerned, and that is also in, in a big way. It's aiding the growth in the, old book, because-
Yeah. So on the second point on the motor outlook, you're right. The overall numbers that have come out for the industry has been muted, and there's nothing new that we are talking about it. It's all over every possible, you know, channel as to where the industry is. But I must also highlight one fact that on private car in particular, which contributes more than 50% of our practice as far as motor is concerned, it's on a very high base. We've had a very stellar run on private car as an industry, almost, you know, when the COVID was still there, and then it kind of continued for a while. So on a very high base, if it is flattish also, it does not overly concerns us.
Yes, and two-wheeler has shown better numbers, but two-wheeler also had recovered only 85% of pre-COVID levels, while private car has moved in the zone of 130%-140% of what it was pre-COVID peak. Commercial vehicle, mixed bag, but which can be a proxy in many ways to the industrial activity which takes place. We do believe it can pick up in quarter end of quarter three, or maybe in, you know, by quarter four. So overall, yes, we are expecting a single digit growth in H2, but that itself should suffice. And this also is a backdrop that, as an industry, we've had not much of a TP hike for almost, you know, last three years, if I may say.
So it's a combined factor, but we stay committed to harness what works for us. So we are excited with H2 also, and the festive season has just got started. Footfalls have been high. The sales numbers are still building up. Probably we'll have a much better sense how the festive season goes by mid-November and thereabout, once the Diwali part is over.
Just a clarification on this. You mentioned the single digit growth that you're expecting next year is for vehicle sales, or is it for the premium growth of the motor segment for general insurance industry?
I'm talking about the premium, the vehicle sale is what I'm referring to.
Vehicle sales. Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right. Thank you, Sanjeev.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Madhukar Ladha from Nuvama Wealth Management Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, sir. Good evening, sir. So, first, I think in your opening remarks, you mentioned that on the motor segment, industry combined ratios have worsened. Now, in this backdrop, I think H1, your performance has been very good. And, you know, do you think that this will be sustainable, given, you know, industry loss ratios are worsened? And so, how do you think, you know, this can pan out? Do you think, it... The competitive intensity is got higher or... Yeah, so that's question number one. Hello? And second, okay.
You want to put your second question, if you have, yeah, I should answer this.
No. And second, sir, you know, last year, we were sort of discussing that, IRDAI, a lot of your competition is sort of above the 30%, you know, expense and commission ratios. So, and is not in compliance of the IRDAI norms. So, is IRDAI looking to do something about it? What is the thought process out there? Because, you know, that may help in getting industry combined ratios under check, and we can benefit in that scenario.
Yeah. So, I think, so I'll answer both of them. On the core side, when we spoke about motor, the core for the industry has moved from 121-1 25.6, so clearly it's worsened. When you look at the loss ratio on that, the industry had in quarter one last year, loss ratio of 84.5%, it went to 87.6%. And there's an increase on the expense there also, which has taken it from 36.5% to 38%. Interesting point, when you split this in PSU and private sector, clearly PSU has worsened from 134- 141, driven by, again, significant increase in loss ratio.
Privates, from 107- 115, so that has been the kind of a movement that you have seen in loss ratio for PSU. For private sector in particular, it also in a way answers as to what Lombard can look at. It has remained in the zone of 74.2%- 75%. So, and there's a marginal increase in the private sector as far as expense ratio is concerned, where it moved from 41.1% to 43.5%. So from the balance perspective and where IL journey can be, while I don't want to stretch the line too far, we stay committed and we do back ourselves on two count.
One is, in terms of the selection that we are able to do as an entity, and secondly, the manner in which we are able to service our customer, which is at speed and in a far more efficient manner. So all of that in combined, we would love to, you know, probably put this across, that we stay committed to where we are. Yes, at an industry level, finally, we are part of our, overall, you know, operations of the business. As things stand, we would love to see improvement at the industry level also, because if that happens, it can create further niche for us and improve our combined ratio. So that's my, you know, take, and, yeah, we stay committed to, you know, take care of our motor practice.
We would be agile enough to make movements between private car, two-wheeler and commercial vehicles, as it warrants at that, in a dynamic manner at any point of time. On the second question, in terms of the stuff that we mentioned on extensive management, yes, the data is out. It's there with the regulator. We are in no position to put a comment. We continue to pursue with them as to what structure they will do at some point of time. There are multiple nodes, and there's a lot of proactive work being done by the regulator on multiple counts, including the master circular, which has come, for each of the product categories. We do believe something is in the offing, but we are in no position to comment as to when and how this would get transpired.
Right. But you definitely expect some action to bring the industry in line, would that be...
From our position, we definitely will expect, but we are not the right, you know, set of, you know, people to comment as to how and when they will do it. That prerogative fairly and squarely stays with them. But yes, we do expect that, some action will be taken by them at some point of time.
One more question, finally, on the health segment. Health segment loss ratios have sort of worsened in the first half, and Q2. I know seasonally is a little bit of a weaker quarter in that respect, but is there any, you know, structural problem in the industry? You know, like, is pricing adequate? What is your sense?
So, we continue to monitor this closely. Structural problem, my answer is no. Are there challenges which comes on account of some bit of seasonality which leads to increase in frequency? Answer is yes. There is an element of that, Madhukar, that does come in. Nevertheless, the way we process work and the way the regulators create an environment, if there are challenges, each one of us is well within the rights to, you know, seek a repricing of the portfolio. So, in an agile mode, all this can be addressed over a period of time.
Got it, sir. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you, Madhukar. All the best. Thank you.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Sanketh Godha from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Gopal, can you split the motor growth for the quarter and for the half into new and old, and in this old, can you give a bit of color that this old is driven by the existing customers, that is, they are renewing what they bought last year with you? Or is it the business which is coming from other companies? Because compared to the industry, we seems to be gaining significant share of market in this business, so if you can give a color bit there and how sustainable it is, it will be useful to understand the future outlook, too.
The second question related to that is that if you are doing more old in OD, then ideally the loss ratio should deteriorate in OD, but we are seeing an improvement in one month or one quarter compared to the last year. So just wanted to understand what is playing in our favor to see the better loss ratio in motor OD. Lastly, on PP, I believe you guided last time that loss ratio of 65%-70% is the number what you need to watch out for. That's the guidance you have given. And that was last year, and now it is tagged below 65% for first half. Just wondering, given there is no TP price hike, whether you believe this number is still sustainable?
Because I'm asking this question from the perspective that in last three years, loss triangles, that is 2023, 2022, 2021, you did not choose to take any reserve release from Motor TP. So just wondering whether this number is sustainable or not. And lastly, if you can give a data point, health loss ratio broken down into retail and group. That's it.
All right. Perfect. Superb. Thanks, Sanketh.
Okay.
So one, I think I'll take it in the sequence, which is the, I'll start with last and go to the first. So on the breakup of the health loss ratio, which is something that you obviously ask us every quarter, so hence, to that extent, quarter two of last year, on the employer-employee side, that number was 102%. Vis-a-vis that, quarter two of this year, that number is about 98%. On the retail indemnity, again, quarter two numbers are roughly about 66.6%, and quarter two of this year is about 70.3%. But again, as the point that we have always maintained is, I think if you look at on the employer-employee side, largely we have said, I think the portfolio should possibly end the year in that range of over 94%-95%. This is, I'm referring to the corporate health.
On the retail side, I think broadly we have talked about trying to run the portfolio at a loss ratio around that 70% threshold. So that's where we are kind of largely working towards, at least in so far as the portfolio buildup is concerned. And to your third question on the TP loss ratio range that we spoke about, I think when I talked about at an aggregate motor segment level, we had said broadly the range that we are comfortable operating at is between 65%-67%. And within that, we had said OD possibly are looking at running between 60%-65%, and third party, as you rightly mentioned, was between the range of 65%-70%.
What we also keep saying is, honestly, I think you should keep, kind of, looking at numbers more on ideally multiple annual cycles, because these are third-party books which typically runs over multiple, long-term periods in terms of development. And hence, to that extent, I think at this point of time, I think we kind of, stay within that range of what we spoke about, which is motor at an aggregate level of 65-67%. And within that third party, we believe should broadly kind of run at a range of about 65%-70%.
And that also kind of resonates with one of the other points that you rightly mentioned, which is what we are also seeing is obviously no TP price increases, and therefore, to that extent, that's another factor that we would be equally be mindful of in terms of how we kind of disselect the portfolios. So that's in response to question three. To your point on question two, on the OD loss ratios, I think I kind of largely answered as a part of question three, which is, I think the range that you see even on a half yearly basis or even within that, if you look at it in quarter two, broadly, that loss ratio range on own damage has been running between in that range of about 60%-65%.
But, having said that, I think, one of the things that we have been speaking about even in our earlier earnings call is I think there is a lot of trust and focus on us to make sure that we are able to significantly leverage on the service parameters, particularly on trying to see how we can manage the overall cost of claim in the context of motor specifically. And if you remember, one of the initiatives that we spoke about driving in that front was to leverage on our PPN network. And there again, if you would have seen, what we have tried to do is to... The proportion of claims that has got settled through the PPN network, the numbers have kind of clearly seen an increase.
So all in all, I think, pretty much comfortable with the range at which we are operating at in the context of own damage, to your point on the second one. And to your first point, I did kind of give out the numbers of the growth between new and old. Just to reiterate, quarter one, new grew at about 16%, old book had grown at about 33%. Quarter two, as I said, the growth in new has been largely flattish, and the growth in the renewal book has been about 26%. On a half yearly basis, the growth in new has roughly been about 7%-8%, and the growth in the renewal book has been close to about 30%, 29%-30%. So that's been the breakup.
Now, in terms of where is that growth largely coming in on the OD side? I think, as I said, there is a significant thrust on us in terms of making sure that we are, we are able to retain as many customers of ours, and, in so far as the initiative that I kind of also spoke about. But equally, what we have also been able to see is to also get some expanded market as well, which is why if you see, for example, on motor as a category, where we used to kind of possibly, actually kind of see us running at a market share of slightly less than, in fact, 10%. So and in that sense, that's also kind of aiding.
So obviously, we have also been accreting some of the businesses from market as well. So it's been a combination of both. But as I said, the endeavor is to try and see how we can maximize retention, particularly at times when you see possibly some kind of a slowdown from a market perspective. Then we will obviously, as I said, leverage our strengths on distribution, service and technology to increase customer retention.
Got it. No, just, just a follow-up. Can you give a trend last year, one is how was our retentions and what is today in motor? Just, just to give a color, whether it's driven by our own book.
So on an average, I think what I would kind of say, Sanketh, is I think if you look at it from a motor standpoint in general, and I'm largely just confining to private car and two-wheeler as categories. On an average, I would say you would have seen an increase in retention ranging between 2% to 4%. That's the kind of increase in retentions that one has seen. And the same trend line, while you are talking in the context of motor, just to kind of possibly expect a follow-on on the health side as well.
I think even there, I think what we have seen is obviously a slight uptick insofar as our retention numbers are concerned around pretty much around the similar ranges. So I think as a company, we believe there is a lot that we can do insofar as retaining the customers are concerned, and then to that extent is where we are driving a lot of our initiatives around.
Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for the answer.
Thanks, Sanketh.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aditi Joshi from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question, and good evening. Just-
Good evening, Aditi.
Two questions, two questions.
If you could speak a little louder, that would be great, Aditi. Thank you so much.
Yeah, sorry. Is it better? Just two questions from my side. Firstly, on the investment leverage side, I see that the first half investment leverage was slightly downward. So can you please help explain, like, the reason behind that? And going forward, what do you think of investment leverage trend? And secondly, on the retention side, the premium retention, it was slightly on the higher side. So I just want to understand your strategy going forward. Will you plan to retain more on your books, or how are you thinking about it? That's all, though. Thank you.
Again, I'm going, so in the reverse sequence. So, if you look at the premium retention, as I said, it's largely a function of the change in the business mix. As I kind of outlined at the beginning, I think in quarter two, relatively, our sourcing on the commercial lines have been relatively muted, where we kind of typically have a slightly higher reinsurance extent, and therefore, to that extent, retentions are lower. And given that we were cautious, that book has grown at a relatively slower pace. Compared to that, I think we have seen a significant uptick on both the retail lines, which is both retail health as well as our motor lines of businesses, both of which predominantly we end up retaining pretty much everything on the net account.
So hence, to that extent is where you would have possibly seen a slight uptick in so far as the premium retentions are concerned. To your point on what can we expect going ahead, I think purely very difficult to comment on a number because it all depends on how we see the momentum play out in terms of different lines of businesses. But if you ask us, is there any change in the thought process in terms of retention versus reinsurance? At this point of time, obviously, there is no change in stance, but obviously we will take it as we play through once the discussions for the reinsurance program happen at the beginning of quarter four or maybe the next calendar year beginning. So that is where we are on premium retention.
To your point on investment leverage, I think, which is again, something that we put out as a part of the opening transcript, in the in the context of the market being a little slow, particularly in quarter two. If you'd have seen, as I said, industry grew at about 13%, we grew at 20% in Q1. Vis-à-vis that, market grew at about 2%, at thereabout in quarter two, we grew at roughly at about 10%. So to that extent, the fact that there has been a relative slowdown in growth, that obviously kind of acts as a factor, in so far as, let's say the, investment leverage is concerned.
And secondly, in general, if you would have seen the trend line, Q2 over Q1, generally the investment leverage seems to show a declining trend. And this trend starts to reverse as we kind of head into the festive season or maybe quarter three, where you will see start seeing a lot more collections kind of play through. And hence, I think to that extent is where we are. On a normal trajectory, I think broadly what we should say is, I think we have talked about trying to maintain an investment leverage around 4x . I think that's broadly the trend line that one should expect, but in a particular quarter, you can always see some of these aberrations play out.
And then what also, one more thing just to add is, mathematically speaking, if the growth of profit is higher than the growth of investment, there can be a bit of a denominator that will come out. It should get moderated with cash flows over time.
Sure, got it. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Aditi.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Nidhesh from Investec. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity. So my question is on motor TP. In motor TP, last three years, there is no price hike, and because of which, the loss ratio in the segment should ideally be going up. And some of the companies, I think, also are going slow in the motor TP. What is giving us confidence that the business that we are underwriting is of appropriate quality in terms of profitability?
So, Nidhesh, yes, there's been no hike, and I spoke about that just some time back. The configuration in terms of how our book is placed, the contribution of commercial vehicle is around 21%, you know, and we always said it will remain in the range of 18%-19%- 23-24% is what we expect the commercial vehicle is, which is the bare minimum. We are more driven by private car and two-wheeler. So there is a mix and selection that comes into play. Clearly, yes, industry would love to see in certain categories increase on the third-party premium, and we continue to be in discussion with the regulator and all the other authorities who are involved in that.
But we stay committed to our process of selection and the rigor that which we go through, even in times when industry was doing extremely well in certain categories, we had let go and had shown a declining trend. So we have stuck to our course, and we have every reason to believe that we should be able to play it out the way we have been giving our numbers. So that's all I can say at this point of time.
And then, the 60% combined loss ratio that we are showing on motor TP is it a function of decline in accident incidents or... So, this number looks pretty good, so why that is, how we are able to deliver this number? Is it our underwriting or it is just structural decline in incidents of the accidents, or it is the benefit of Motor Vehicle Act that we are getting now?
So again, Nidhesh, I think we have kind of reiterated this even in our quarter one earnings call. Particularly on the last piece, in terms of are we factoring in any element of, maybe a benefit in the context of the likely implementation of the six-month rule? The short answer is no. So at this point of time, we are not necessarily factoring in anything in the context of reserving, at least so far as the law of limitation is concerned. But if you ask us, I think so far as, third party is concerned, as I keep saying, you should ideally start looking at this number over longer cycles because of the development of the inherent nature of the business in terms of how the large development takes place.
And that's the reason why we said, generally at an aggregate level, the range that we are comfortable operating at is between that 65%-70% kind of a threshold. Even the point that Sanjeev made in terms of our mix of business, there you would have seen, I think, a large part of our third party significantly kind of also co-contributed by the relatively higher mix that we have on private car and two-wheelers, relative to, let's say, the exposure that one has insofar as the commercial vehicle segment is concerned.
So hence, that's also a factor that plays out. And in general, I think what we have also been able to do, not just now, over periods, I think we have been able to significantly work on making sure that we are able to identify pockets which we believe are viable from an underwriting standpoint. And, and to that extent, that aids in risk selection.
And if you also remember, even within CV, while I said we have been underweight, I think the call that we took, if you remember almost about four, five years back, is to stay invested in the segment where we think there is an opportunity, we would possibly take those calls in possibly earmarking some capital on doing the right risk selection. And in hindsight, I think we've actually seen some of these calls play out to our advantage. So all in all, I think multiple factors that is aiding, but as I keep saying, we just want to rate. I think the range that we are comfortable operating is between 65%- 70%.
Sure. And this last question on two-wheeler. In two-wheeler, the sector growth has been reasonably strong, but, our share of two-wheeler business on a YoY basis and actually even has declined from 28%- 25%. So what is happening there?
So that's primarily the mix, Nidhesh. I think, again, as we keep saying, it's all a function of how you see the market play out. And obviously, I think as things, let's say, for example, Q3 to Q4 cycle could again undergo a change, once you see some of the demands kind of picking up, so automatically you will see the mix of business within motor undergoing a change. So all in all, for us, there is no specific, there's no specific change in thought processes, unless Sanjeev-
No, no, I'll just add this. So the decline of 20%-25%, which you are referring to, Nidhesh, is more the configuration. We haven't lost market share in two-wheeler, but we, we have gained more in private car at a faster clip, so that changes the percentage distribution of business. Otherwise, motor overall, if you look at it, and this is a bigger number to see, we moved from a 9.8% kind of a market share to almost 11%, which is 10.9%. So there's an overall gain. And in that journey, as we, whichever way the configuration comes out, it's more driven by output of percentages of portfolio distribution, not that we have lost anything in two-wheeler.
Sure, sir. Very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jayant Kharote from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. Just a bit on the renewal book, can you help us understand how the renewal rates across the segments within motor have been trending, and how much has improved over the last, say, one or two years? And maybe even the last two quarters, is that contributing to the renewal growth?
So, Jayant, I think I already kind of possibly answered that. I don't think we are talking specifically in the context of specific sub-segments within motor. I think all that we can talk about is to say that at an aggregate level, motor as a category, we have seen an improvement in retention, broadly kind of increasing between 2%-4%. And that's what I kind of also refer to helping us relatively grow our proportion of the old business, the breakup of which I had given in response to one of the questions.
Do you expect this to continue improving from here? I mean, this is the efforts that you guys are taking on improving the renewals.
The short answer is yes, Jayant, because I think one of the other points that I spoke about is our increased thrust that we are putting on customer service. And if you see one of the other things that we keep talking a lot about, which is also there in our annual report and even in multiple of our disclosures that we have made, is clearly, at least in so far as customer satisfaction score slash NPS scores are concerned, it is only seeing an uptick. And that automatically kind of, in some sense, aids customers to kind of stay hooked, at least in so far as retentions are concerned. So hence, to that extent, that's definitely a factor.
The fact that we are also able to divert maybe a lot of our customers in so far as the preferred provider network is concerned, where again, so far as the customer is concerned, they are assured of clearly two things. One, obviously, it helps in so far as managing the overall average cost of claims. But two, and more importantly, what we're able to kind of assure the customer there is the quality of repair, and let's say, the relative turnaround time that we are able to exhibit in so far as servicing those claims are concerned.
So that is exactly what a customer looks for when he or she gets a claim. I think the earliest possible time within which a vehicle can be repaired and given back, that possibly kind of results into a delightful experience. And there we have seen a significant uptick on the PPN network, which again is kind of translating into an improved retention for us.
Thank you. Just sort of one last follow-up on this. In terms of channels, is some channel sort of helping over others in terms of improving the retention rates over here?
Well, channel-wise, there is, I think, again, Jayant, channel-wise, see, when it comes to retaining our own customers, we have our own direct reach out to them. To some extent, it's channel-agnostic, but, yes, certain categories may end up having better retention than other channels. Website has a good retention, agency business has a much better retention. OEM, relatively, at times, their distributor may have a lower one, but when we approach our customers through call center in terms of retaining it 's more a process improvement and a consistent reach out that we have created, which is helping us retain.
Is digital slightly better over agency over here?
Historically, it's been better. There's no doubt on that. Yes.
Great, great. Thank you very much, and congratulations on the great set of numbers.
Thank you. Thanks, Jay. Thank you so much.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Prithvish Uppal from Elara Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks so for taking my question. Just wanted to understand the context of the rising CAT losses. You know, some color in terms of how the pricing is on the reinsurance side, specifically on the, you know, the CAT events. How do you see that, I mean, possibly moving the next year or in the medium term? And in case there is some kind of reinsurance price hike, what strategy do you think would be viable in terms of, you know, at an industry level, the passing on of the cost or the absorption? And second, I wanted to understand in the health segment, you know, what is the mix between the old and the new book? If possibly you could give some color on the loss ratio split between the renewal book and the new book?
So I think on the first one, insofar as writing CAT losses are concerned, I think your point is absolutely right, and that is exactly what we kind of keep looking for. Now, again, if you were to slightly go back to history, if you remember almost about four, five years back, when the market had seen stress, particularly in fire line of business, at that point of time, clearly reinsurers had stepped in and they had said, in case if companies wants to avail appropriate reinsurance capacity, the market has to be more disciplined insofar as pricing is concerned. And to that extent is where they have kind of calibrated pricing terms and the extent of possibly reinsurance commissions that they would be kind of ascribing to individual companies.
In that context, if you'd have seen from an ICICI Lombard standpoint, given that we were largely exhibiting a profitable book in terms of our ability to select better quality book, we were actually able to keep improving our panel of reinsurers, and relatively our terms on reinsurance were also better. Now, when you look at in that context, if the market further improved pricing, that is very, very positive, because that in some sense aids market to get far more disciplined because if reinsurers were to kind of define an increase in price, then that's a call that companies will have to take in terms of their ability to pass on to, let's say, what they're able to do insofar as keeping it on the net.
So any increase in pricing, but all this will start getting reflected once we do our reinsurance conversations, which will happen towards quarter four of this year. So we will see how that plays out. To your point on the health side, I think for us, the growth, I think, is aided by both contribution by. As I said, even on the motor, where I spoke about on retention, even at that point of time, I had said even on health, there is a significant focus for us, and therefore, to that extent, we have also seen an improvement in the retention ratios of customers on health as well.
Insofar as the growth numbers, I think it is a growth that is aided by both retention of customers and more importantly, also, if you see, I think the newly launched solution, Elevate, particularly that we launched in quarter two of this year, that has been received very well across multiple stakeholders. And that's why when you look at retail health as a category, the market share, which was largely hovering around 2.9% or thereabout, for quarter two, that number stands at about 3.5%. While it's an outcome of just one quarter as we launched this solution, but obviously I think we are quite excited and happy with the way how this has played out. And honestly, we will have to kind of keep this momentum going as we kind of look forward.
To your point on what could be the split insofar as the loss ratio of new and the renewal book is concerned, honestly, to my mind, I think that's purely a function of what kind of a mix of business that we write. And our objective will be to obviously write a combination of both new and renewal. That's why I kind of talked about in the context of the overall loss ratio, that we are comfortable on the retail health side, which is roughly at around 70%. The mix thereon is the split between new and renewal will be purely a function of what mix of business that we write.
Okay. So just one follow-up. You know, in terms of the industry loss ratios that we are seeing across the board have been rising. So is that driven more by frequency of claims or is it also from, I mean, or is it just purely claim size that has been increased?
First, frequency numbers at the industry levels are not available, so very difficult to comment. But if the loss ratio is the one which is contributing more, it can be a contribution of nothing but frequency and the average claim size that comes into play is what our understanding is. Yeah?
Okay. Thanks.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as our last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjeev Mantri for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you so much for joining in. I think we're in the midst of the festive season. Wishing you all a great happy Diwali to you and your family members. Stay good, stay fit, stay happy, and we are excited in terms of what quarter three entails for us, and I hope it brings us all good luck. Thank you so much, and look forward to interacting with you one to one as and when your time permits. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thanks.
Thank you.