ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited (NSE:ICICIGI)
India flag India · Delayed Price · Currency is INR
1,761.00
-9.60 (-0.54%)
Apr 30, 2026, 3:30 PM IST
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Q1 25/26

Jul 15, 2025

Operator

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. A very warm welcome to ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited's Q1 FY 2026 Earnings Conference Call. From the senior management, we have with us today Mr. Sanjeev Mantri, MD and CEO of the company, Mr. Gopal Balachandran, CFO, Mr. Anand Singhi, Chief Retail and Government Business, Mr. Girish Nayak, Chief Technology and Health Underwriting and Claims, Mr. Sandeep Goradia, Chief Corporate Solutions International Banca ssurance, and Mr. Gaurav Arora, Chief Reinsurance Underwriting and Claims for Property and Casualty. Please note that any statements, 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 could cause results to differ materially from the current views being expressed.

As a reminder, all participant clients will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch tone 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.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Thank you so much. Good evening to each one of you. Thank you for joining the earnings conference call of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company for quarter one 2026. Let me give you a brief overview of the trends we observe in the economy as well as our industry, followed by an overview of the business. Post this, our CFO, Mr. Gopal Balachandran, will share the financial performance of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2025. India's GDP growth for quarter four, financial year 2025, surprised positively at 7.4%, and the full-year growth came in at 6.5% according to the data released by MoSPI. Key macroeconomic indicators such as GST collections and performance of infrastructure sectors indicate some positive momentum for quarter one, financial year 2026.

RBI's cut in the repo rate by 50 basis points in early June 2025, income tax incentives by government, and benign inflation are expected to augur well for the domestic economy. Let me now dwell on certain industry trends which can have an impact on the GI industry at large. In the current quarter, the government's continued emphasis on infrastructure deployment has fueled growth across key sectors such as cement, steel, infrastructure, and capital goods. With the banking sector remaining healthy and capacity utilization exceeding historical norms, any increase in domestic demand could serve as a catalyst for private capital expenditure. These factors present a positive outlook for the commercial line of business in coming quarters. In quarter one 2026, as per the data published by SIAM, private car and two-wheeler segments decreased by 1.5% and 7.2% YoY respectively. However, in quarter one financial year 2026.

This is the data published by FADA, auto industry has grown by 4.9%, the private car segment grew by 2.6%, registering 0.97 million units sales. The two-wheeler segment has been seeing a modest growth of 5%, contributed by both urban and rural consumers. As the monsoon is forecasted to be normal, we anticipate that it will further fuel the rural demand. Commercial vehicles have seen a growth of 7%, which was led by strong growth in electric three-wheeler categories. As an organization, we remain optimistic for the motor business in coming months. The health segment remains the largest contributor to the industry, accounting for 40.2% of the GDPI mix in quarter one 2026. Rising hiring activity, escalating medical costs, and sustained credit growth are the key drivers fueling continued demand for health insurance.

However, the overall industry growth trajectory continues to be moderated by the impact of the 1/n accounting norm. Despite this, the fundamentals of the health insurance segment remain strong, positioning it as a critical pillar of long-term industry growth. Given the favorable economic indicators and positive regulatory environment, we expect the general insurance industry to continue the growth momentum in medium to long term. However, we remain vigilant on the ongoing geopolitical development, which may pose risks to both global growth and Indian economy. Let me now share an update on key industry-level events. Happy to share that the recently launched campaign, Acha Kiya Insurance Liya, is a commendable step by the general insurance industry towards enhancing awareness and consequently increasing insurance penetration across diverse customer segments. This unified effort reflects the sector's growing commitment to driving financial protection and resilience in India.

As one of the leading players in this industry, ICICI Lombard is well placed to contribute and benefit from the same. Another key event wherein the country was deeply affected was the tragic Air India plane crash. We extend our sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. An event of this magnitude can have a profound effect on all those involved. As an industry and as an insurer, we responded swiftly, prioritizing and supporting the affected family members and other stakeholders during these difficult times. Now coming to the industry performance for quarter one financial year 2026. The GDPI grew by 8.8% for quarter one 2026. Excluding the impact of the 1/n accounting norm, the GDPI grew by 12.8% for quarter one 2026. Excluding crop and mass health, the GDPI grew by 11.1% for quarter one 2026.

Speaking on the specific segments within the industry, the commercial segment reported a growth of 13% for the period ending quarter one financial year 2026. The growth is majorly driven by improved pricing in property lines of business. The motor segment grew for the industry to 8.7% for the period quarter one 2026. The industry continues to witness significant pricing pressure, as reflected by higher industry combined ratio for the motor line of business. The health segment, including miles sales, grew by 8.1% for the period quarter one 2026. Within this, the group health line of business grew by 9.6% for quarter one, whereas the retail health group stood at 9.4% for quarter one 2026, impacted by the 1/n accounting norm. Speaking on the underwriting performance of the industry, overall, the combined ratio for the industry worsened to 112.6% for financial year 2025, as against 112% for financial year 2024.

The overall combined ratio for private players worsened to 111.4% for financial year 2025, from 108.7% for financial year 2024. Industry combined worsening was largely due to the motor line of business. It stood at 123.7% for financial year 2025, visibly 118.5% for financial year 2024. As against this, our continued focus on driving profitable growth has helped us to show a combined ratio of 102.8% for financial year 2025 versus 103.3% for financial year 2024. Also, it is pertinent to note that the company's contribution to overall underwriting losses is at 2.7%. Only, visibly an 8.7% market share for financial year 2025. I will now speak about the company's performance across key business in quarter one financial year 2026. The company's GDPI registered a growth of 0.6%, as against the industry growth of 8.8% for quarter one 2026.

Excluding crop and motor insurance sales, the company's growth was at 3.4% compared to the industry growth of 11.1% for quarter one 2026. In the commercial line segment, our growth stood at 6.8% for quarter one 2026, as against the industry growth of 13% for the same period. Whilst the industry has seen an improvement in pricing at an overall level, however, there have been different levels of price action within subcategories of commercial lines. We continue to drive profitability through prudent risk selection and distribution-led growth. We have maintained our leadership position in engineering and marine cargo line of business. In the motor segment, our growth stood at 3.2% for quarter one 2026, as against the industry growth of 8.7%. In the backdrop of elevated competitive intensity, as stated earlier, we continue to drive our strategy in motor insurance based on granular portfolio segmentation and distribution expansion.

We continue to maintain our leadership position with a market share of 10.5% for quarter one 2026. Our portfolio mix for private car, two-wheeler, and commercial vehicles stood at 54.8%, 27%, and 18.2% respectively in comparison to the mix of quarter one 2025, which stood at 51.5%, 26%, and 22.5% respectively. In health segment, we grew by 1.9% for quarter one 2026, as against the industry growth of 8.1%, as at quarter one 2026 on a 1/n basis. Our retail health business line continues to maintain the growth momentum pursuant to which we have gained the market share. We registered a growth of 32.2%, as against industry growth of 9.4%, as of quarter one 2026.

The continued innovation in retail health products and investment in retail health distribution has helped us to increase market share, which now stands at 3.5% for quarter one 2026, as against 2.9% for quarter one 2025. Our group health segment grew by 2.5% for quarter one 2026 when compared with quarter one 2025, resulting in our market share being at 10.1%. This was essentially attributable to lower growth in our group benefit segment due to muted credit disbursement coupled with the impact of 1/n accounting norm. We would now like to apprise you of other key initiatives of our organization. The initiatives under the One IL One team continue to deliver measurable results, underscoring our commitment to sustainable and profitable growth at the organization level.

A key initiative in this journey has been the consolidation of our customer-facing call center into a unified One IL One call center aimed at standardizing practices, enhancing operational efficiencies, and delivering a superior customer experience through strategic technology interventions. The integration of processes under this initiative resulted in a 78% increase in productivity for quarter one 2026, along with the reduction in headcount of the fresh acquisition team and service team at 22% and 10% respectively. Our digital service engagement has gone up to 38% in quarter one 2026, up from 22% in quarter one 2025. This was made possible through the use of artificial intelligence, voice bots, propensity modeling, and targeted campaigns. We further improved our efficiency in motor claims. Our preferred partner network serviced 74.6% of our non-volume claims in quarter one 2026, up from 72% in quarter one 2025.

Launched in April of 2024, our IL Sahayak initiative has strengthened ongoing claim support for our health customers. In quarter one 2026, the initiative assisted over 28,000 customers, reflecting an increase from 8,000 customers supported in quarter one of 2025. This growth highlights a continued focus on enhancing the customer experience and delivering timely, accessible support during the critical moments. Our digital platform continues to aid our growth, with visitors increasing 21% year on year and increasing fresh business by 69% year on year. This is fueled by our one-stop solution, IL TakeCare app, for all insurance and wellness needs, which surpassed 15.6 million downloads. Our focus on customer experience and process efficiency has led to an increase of 68% and 69% for health and motor claims respectively for financial year 2025. We have demonstrated resilience amidst industry challenges, maintaining our focus on profitability.

Guided by our One IL One team philosophy, we continue to harness the power of data, technology, and innovation to drive our progress. Our robust multi-product, multi-distribution strategy allows us to adopt strictly and serve our customers more effectively while delivering profitable growth. I will now request Gopal to state the financial numbers for the recently concluded quarter.

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

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. We have uploaded the results presentation on our website, and you can access it as we walk you through the performance numbers. With effect from October 1, 2024, long-term products are accounted on a 1/n basis, as mandated by IRDAI, and Q1 FY 2026 numbers are not comparable with prior periods. Please refer to our investor presentation for further details.

The gross direct premium income of the company was INR 77.35 billion in Q1 FY 2026, as against INR 76.88 billion in Q1 FY 2025, a growth of 0.6%, as against the industry growth of 8.8%. Excluding crop and mass health, GDPI growth of the company was 3.4%, vis-à-vis the industry growth of 11.1% in Q1 FY 2026. Our GDPI growth during the quarter was primarily driven by growth in the preferred segment. Overall, GDPI of our property and casualty segment grew by 6.8% to INR 26.77 billion in Q1 FY 2026, as against INR 25.08 billion in Q1 FY 2025. On the retail side of the business, the GDPI of the motor segment was at INR 24.44 billion in Q1 FY 2026, as against INR 23.69 billion in Q1 FY 2025, existing a growth of 3.2%.

The advanced premium numbers for the motor segment were at INR 38.07 billion, as at June 30, 2025, as against INR 37.17 billion, as at March 31, 2025. GDPI of the health segment was at INR 23.81 billion in this quarter, as against INR 23.37 billion in Q1 last year, registering a growth of 1.9%. Our agent, which includes the point-of-sale distribution count, was at 143,675 as at June 30, up from 140,736. This was the number as at March 31, 2025. Our combined ratio stood at 102.9% for Q1 FY 2026, as against 102.3% for Q1 FY 2025. Our investment assets during the quarter rose to INR 554.53 billion, as at June 30, 2025, up from INR 535.08 billion, as at March 31, 2025. Our investment leverage net of borrowing remained the same at 3.74x , as at June 30, 2025, and as at March 31, 2025.

Investment income was at INR 12.88 billion in Q1 FY26, as against INR 11.28 billion in Q1 FY25. Our capital gains, net of employment or investment assets, stood at INR 3.8 billion in Q1 FY 2026, compared to INR 2.84 billion in Q1 FY 2025. Our profit before tax grew by 28.4% to INR 9.94 billion in Q1 FY 2026, as against INR 7.74 billion in Q1 FY 2025. Consequently, profit after tax grew by 28.7% to INR 7.47 billion in Q1 FY 2026, as against INR 5.8 billion in Q1 FY 2025. Return On Average Equity was at 20.5% in Q1 FY 2026, as against 19.1% in Q1 FY 2025. Solvency ratio was at 2.7x , as at June 30, 2025, as against 2.69x , as at March 31, 2025. This continues to be higher than the minimum regulatory requirement of 1.5x .

As I conclude, I would like to reassure that we remain committed and focused on our strategy of innovation and driving profitable growth, consistent and sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders, while continually ensuring that the interest of the industry and our policyholders is in the forefront at all times. Thank you, and we'll be open to take questions.

Thank you very much. We will now begin the question- and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask questions may press star and one on the touch tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use hands while asking questions. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. To ask questions, please press star and one. First question is from Nishith Chheda from Kotak. Please go ahead.

Nishith Chheda
Analyst, Kotak

Yeah, thanks for taking my question. My question is actually on the commercial lines of business. Somewhere at the beginning, you mentioned that I think that is good, the segment. But I think at the same time, you also said that there are different levels of pricing. And as I see you of time, you have shrunk the market share a little bit in this segment. Just curious, what is your view on this segment, and do you expect this to be a profitability upgrade in this financial year?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Sure. Thanks, Nishith, for the question. The simple answer is, I mean, overall, yes. With the overall sentiment and pricing getting better, we do expect it to be more profitable. If you remember, last year, when we were reaching out in every possible quarter, we had spoken about the excessive intensity and aggression on the pricing front.

Certainly, there's a bit of a semblance overall. We also said, along with the multiple sections and competitive intensity, that we have seen what we have done is distribution-led growth, primarily because on the larger corporate side or the larger risk, still there has been somewhat of an excessive pricing which has come in. We've done what is required to drive profitable growth for us. Your seat on do you expect it to continue? Our firm belief is yes. What market is doing at this point is pricing risk appropriately, which was not happening otherwise in the previous year.

Nishith Chheda
Analyst, Kotak

This would actually be kind of profitability upgrade this year is what we are trying to say.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

I mean, it's very difficult to forecast. The simple answer is pricing improved. It should be better than what it is.

But you know, fire, as a business plan, has to play out over quarters because it's driven by very low frequency and very high severity. It should be profitable. It should be profitable overall. My answer is yes. It will have to play out because it's driven by extreme losses as and when it happens, if it happens.

Nishith Chheda
Analyst, Kotak

Yes, of course. The other question is on the loss ratio in the health business. If you could help us split it between the retail and the group business.

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

So Nishith. I'm giving the group numbers first, which is corporate health. Q1 last year was 97.9%. This is the last year Q1, 97.9%. That number for Q1 this year is at 95.7%. On the retail indemnity, again, similar period. Q1 last year was 72.5%. Q1 this year is 74.3%.

Nishith Chheda
Analyst, Kotak

Got it. Thank you.

Thank you very much, and all the best.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Thanks, Nishith. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Madhukar Ladha from Nuvama Wealth Management. Please go ahead.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Yeah, Madhukar.

Operator

You seem to have lost the line for Madhukar. We'll move to the next question. The next question is from Prayesh Jain from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.

Prayesh Jain
Lead Analyst, Motilal Oswal

Yeah, just a follow-up on the loss ratio of the retail health. You mentioned it's gone up from 72.5% to 74.3%. Given that we would have had a very strong growth on the fresh premium. Would you say that the severity and the frequency of retail indemnity has gone up substantially?

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

So Prayesh, I think if you remember, even last year, first quarter, we did kind of talk about a slight increase in incidences. We do see that playing out even for quarter one of this year.

There has been definitely an increase in incidents. As you would have seen, even when we started last year, quarter one number was 72.5%. By the time we ended, if you would have seen the number on a full-year basis of a retail loss ratio, it ended at about 67.9%. Hence, and exactly to your point, I think what is helping us is the growth that we are seeing, largely kind of aided by the elevate product offering that we have been talking about. I think that continues to kind of do well. Therefore, this is just quarter one. Our expectation is pretty much in line with the range of loss ratios that we have seen. I think in all fairness, the expectation is that we should kind of end the year in that same loss ratio range of 65%-70%.

That's the range at which we are comfortable with. As of now, I think things seem to be pretty much looking around within that range. This is just a quarter one phenomenon.

Prayesh Jain
Lead Analyst, Motilal Oswal

Again, the 32% growth that you have seen on the retail health, how much would you add? How much of that could be, say, portability, and how much would it be from, say, first-time customers to the industry? Can you give some qualitative comments there because that will help us understand the quality of business?

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Prayesh, in general, I think if you look at it, I think our market share has been very low, right? I think as a company, we have had an aggregate market share of 2.9%. I think we have moved the needle, which is what we talked about, to move at about 3.5%.

The endeavor for us is to obviously kind of make sure that, again, if you remember last quarter four, we did speak about the initiatives that we are trying to do on retaining our own customers. Therefore, in that sense, obviously, that's an area where we are actively focusing on so that we are able to kind of improve our own retention. Two, again, the objective will be to try and see if we can get more customers, particularly which are new to insurance. To your point on what could be the extent of portability, we do not separately call out that number.

I think really from our standpoint, what we can talk about is on a relative basis, the proportion of what we would have seen as a rollover, whether it is quarter one or quarter four of last year, vis-à-vis what we have seen in quarter one, definitely that mix is lower.

Prayesh Jain
Lead Analyst, Motilal Oswal

Okay. Just coming back to the motor segment. What are your thoughts on motor GP price? Do you think that can come through?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Prayesh, Sanjeev here. We are also as much aware as you are. There is nothing more news that we can. We are often seeing that something is expected by the industry-made representation. Answer is yes. But we would not have any update beyond that. It is kind of expected.

In our working and in our thought process and in our sourcing, the way we operate, we take things as they exist at this point of time where there is no GP hike. We must share the optimism which is there overall that since the last four years almost, there has been very little that has happened on the GP side. Some increase would be a relief for the industry overall.

Prayesh Jain
Lead Analyst, Motilal Oswal

Just to follow up on that, can it happen without a chairperson and the regulator?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

The manner in which it gets announced is more in consultation with IRDAI. It can happen technically. This is something which is beyond our ambit, and we do not want to further dwell on this. Structurally, for whatever is known to us, it is possible. Gopal, anything else on this?

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

No, I think the only other thing that I would add, Prayesh, is I think definitely what warrants the price increase, I think this is what I think the industry has been largely looking at. As in, for example, and again, similar to what we have been speaking, which is when we see court compensation or court award getting exhibited and the element of claim inflation that you are required to build as a part of the loss cause, definitely there is every reason for us to believe that one should definitely seek a price change. Exactly when will it happen? How it would get notified? I think, honestly, we'll have to wait for it.

There is definitely a case for the industry to seek a price increase, given the fact that for the last few years, we have not necessarily seen in that sense a meaningful price increase on the part.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Sanketh Godha from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.

Sanketh Godha
Equity Research Analyst, Avendus Spark

Yeah, and thank you for the opportunity. See, the prior growth for us has been lower compared to industry. We invariably are the market leaders after probably being in the business. We just wanted to understand that even given the bulk of the business happens in first quarter in commercial lines, is it fair to say that maybe because of the pricing environment, our expected growth, which was maybe meaningfully very higher, will remain at the current level for the full year?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Fair question, Sanketh.

If it is something which you have to take in terms of trend, I believe our growth can also increase overall in coming quarters. The bulk of the booking does happen in first quarter. To that extent, mathematically speaking, you are right. However, progressively last year, the discounting kept increasing as quarters kept happening, right? The market kept hitting new levels of discount. To that extent, if there is somewhat of a semblance that is coming in, the industry should show further positive trend as far as YoY growth is concerned. In line with that, we would also like to believe in that path as you said, and we will also see that positive trend continuing.

However, whether we will be able to breach the delta that is existing in quarter one, that our endeavor obviously is to get that managed over quarter and see that we stay where we want to be. It will be purely a function of how the pricing elements are working out in different sections, and we will take a call accordingly.

Sanketh Godha
Equity Research Analyst, Avendus Spark

Got it. Got it. The second thing which I wanted to understand is that if I look at the motor growth based on the mix of what you disclosed in the PPT, it seems that you grew largely in the commercial vehicles. While your growth in two-wheelers and cars looks okay compared to overall growth. Is it largely because of the intensive competitive environment or recalibrating compared to what we did last year in that line of business?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

No, no, Sanketh, I think you're again spot on.

See, beginning of the year, again, the normal inflation and all of that comes through, but in our respective loss ratio, that is expected to happen. If there is no CV hike, it does make the overall math adverse. Logically speaking, the cost of acquisition to that extent could get adjusted so that the CV hike, if it's not there, still the overall math falls in place. We did realize that the market overall did not change the trajectory, and we failed to be a bit more prudent at this point of time. You are spot on, Sanketh. Yes, that's what is reflective of. It is not that we don't want to do the right thing and see CV also showing positivity, but it's purely a function of selection which has made us come out the way we have come out in terms of outcome.

We do not want to do it, and you know that, Sanketh, at the cost of profitability.

Sanketh Godha
Equity Research Analyst, Avendus Spark

Basically, in simple words, if there is a price gap, say, in a couple of months, then is it fair to say that you might see a pullback or a better growth in the CV segment?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Again, it is a function of how the market reacts. If, for that, suppose, I am just giving a scenario. The simple answer to what we said is logically yes, and it should work out the way you are saying. But suppose the market reacts again much more sharply and ends up throwing a lot more money. In terms of cost of acquisition, we will again end up calibrating. Logically, what we are saying should happen, but we have to wait till it plays out.

Sanketh Godha
Equity Research Analyst, Avendus Spark

Got it. Got it. Got it.

Last one, crop insurance, INR 14.5 crore for what we did last year. Today, we are doing just INR 18 crore in the current quarter, maybe timing different. Given you mentioned in the PPT that you have won a few clusters, is it fair to say that there will be year-on-year growth in the crop business in the current year?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Year-on-year growth, difficult to say. If you look at crop, most of the things will come up for within next financial year. This year, there are very few actions. As you could have it, Maharashtra, we were already there, and the year exceeded last year has gone for re-tender and reinsurance, consequent to which we had to rebid.

Whether we will be able to match it or grow, only time will tell, but not too many opportunities at this point of time to see that we can achieve that number at this juncture. Yeah?

Operator

Thank you. All right. The next question is from Nidhesh Jain from Investec. Please go ahead.

Nidhesh Jain
Research Analyst, Investec

Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. So my question is on competitive intensity. Which are these players who are engaging in intense competition at this point in time? Because last time, these were mostly private sector players, but this time, if you look at the industry data, the market share gain is happening from PSU players. What is driving that, and how do you see that ending up?

Last time, a couple of players have shown very high losses, and then competitive intensity reduces for one year, but again, we are again seeing that competitive intensity is increasing. How do you see this plays out, and what are the timelines, let's say, when this will taper off?

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Nidhesh, I think the way I think we would respond is I think all of this, thankfully, is public information. Therefore, I think the market clearly knows which companies are aggressive, which companies are kind of gaining market share. Without specifically kind of getting into names, I think this is all there in the public domain. I think all that I have, which is what we kind of put out as a part of the opening transcript, as in to say that, and which is what we called out even last year.

I think on motor specifically, if you would have seen, honestly, there was an expectation last year for the industry to actually see an improvement in combined. Which, if you remember, kind of finally ended the year with a combined ratio of almost 124% for the industry as a whole, compared to roughly about 118% that we had seen one year back. That is how we have kind of headed into the current year, and that is also the reason why if you would have seen for us, I think relative to the industry growth in motor, which has been a single-digit number of roughly about 8%+ , our growth in motor has been 3.2%. That is again a conscious call. Now, how long can some of these players subsist. Elevated competitive intensity? The good news is, again.

For each of the companies, there is public disclosure on their outcomes in terms of combined ratios. Some of the companies have, w hile a majority of the companies we have the full year numbers, some companies possibly could have announced numbers even for quarter one as we speak. Clearly, it seems to suggest that the market continues to stay competitive. At 124%+ , honestly, we do not necessarily kind of see at an aggregate level to be very, in that sense, gaining market share. Within the segment, obviously, we will kind of grow where we think it is appropriate.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Just to add to it, as an entity, we had to show tremendous patience. If you go back in the history last year in S1, we had gained, then we kind of moderated, and that kind of moderation continued.

We know that if there is this kind of intensity, which is at a very different level at this point of time, we are willing to wait it out, and we know those cycles will come where we'll have our opportunity.

Nidhesh Jain
Research Analyst, Investec

Yeah. The only thing is that the time difference between cycle is quite short. We are just getting one year of time period where the competitive intensity is okay. But again, then some new set of players keep coming in, and competitive intensity increases. It is not like the two, three-year period, there is an up cycle in terms of reasonable competitive intensity in the sector?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

No, sir. Fair point, Nidhesh, but the fact of the matter is, new players are coming. They also, over long term, are expecting value to be created, and that's why they are attracting new players.

Suppose there are no new players coming, also speaks of the fact that it's not doing enough to attract capital. Frankly speaking, my view to that, Nidhesh, is the other way around. While we would love to have periods of three years, two years, as you mentioned, we are very well equipped with a multi-layer, multi-podal, multi-channel entity to manage these kinds of variability. It's part of our day-to-day existence. I think from an investor standpoint, when you look at it, you wonder what's happening. As a company, and you see the numbers from almost 2008, since the everything happened, the industry grew at 15%, and we are about around that region. We have probably grown at 13%, 13 and a half, almost a percentage and a half lower over 2008 to 2025.

But the three-year profit growth of the industry is 10% and probably 8%-10%, and ours is almost 20%. We back ourselves in these times also. We would love to have it the way you are saying. This keeps us agile also. It really does not worry us, but from your standpoint, maybe you have got a point.

Nidhesh Jain
Research Analyst, Investec

Sure, sir. Thank you for that. Thank you.

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Thanks, Nidhesh.

Operator

Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to participants that you may press star and one to join the question queue. The next question is from Shreya Shivani from CLSA. Please go ahead.

Shreya Shivani
Research Analyst, CLSA

Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I have two questions. First is on the tragedy that you mentioned about. I just wanted to understand how much of the claims have been included in our performance this quarter?

The hull losses, have they come in this quarter, or whether they're going to come in the next quarter? I'm assuming there will also be the personal accident bit. That can be spread over some time, I understand. What has happened with the aviation claim? That I wanted to understand. Second is on the long-term policy. I remember when this was launched, there was a bit of confusion, or not confusion, the entire way in which you are paying out commissions to your distributor on the long-term policy has also changed, right? It will be in that 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 format or whatever, 1/n format. Has the behavior of the distributor changed now that you're six, nine months into it? In which product segments has it changed? Are some product segments going to become one-year product only instead of being long-term because of this policy?

Please have a commentary around that. Those are my two questions. Thank you.

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Sure. So Shreya, on the first one, I think, again, as we have always said, I think it's very difficult to kind of comment on individual claims. I think what we can say for sure is what we have, which is what we have been kind of telling even earlier at the time when the incident had happened. Given the exposures that we have on the risks, the impact that we have on the net, they have been completely kind of provided for. So whatever results that you see for quarter one, factors in for the likely impact of claims, because honestly, we will not know when the estimate will eventually play out. I think it is well within our ability to kind of absorb such losses. That's primarily the business that we are in.

Therefore, to that extent, I think we have been able to kind of provide for estimate. This is what we have as of 30th of June. To your second point on long-term policies, I think that's the flexibility which I think clearly the market has got. I think they have to decide in terms of how they want to incentivize sourcing of policies. As you speak, you're right. We are into the third quarter of the change. Market still continues to exhibit differentiated behavior in terms of some of them exhibiting, some of them kind of seeking upfront, some of them obviously willing to kind of take over a period of time. If you ask us, has there been any major shift in the behavior related to what we had seen in Q3 and Q2? The short answer is no. We have not necessarily seen any major shift.

Sanjeev Mantri
CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

No, so there is not. I'll quickly agree with you that, as Gopal said, in certain concepts of long-term, there can be different practices. More so on the health side, the industry has been very unified in terms of procuring long-term products. Initially, in the initial quarter, we did see the long-term sourcing getting impacted for us because we had moved in line with the regulation, and others had not moved. Thank God in that sense that now the practice has been uniformly addressed by each one of them. From there on, we all see those numbers reverting back. To that extent, Shreya, it is a positive sign. The partners are also finding an obvious benefit of doing long-term financial policies for the customers. Yes, so there is normalcy as far as health part of the business is concerned on the retail side.

Shreya Shivani
Research Analyst, CLSA

Got it.

Got it. Just on the first question, just a follow-up, sorry. How much can we say is the total combined ratio impact of that event? If there's a number?

Sanjeev Mantri
CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

It's big there, and the fact that we are not calling out, otherwise we would have called out, that is something that's common. The usual share. We all estimate it is 55%, but it's addressed at this juncture, and we don't think it's appropriate to call out that number.

Shreya Shivani
Research Analyst, CLSA

Sure, sure. It's okay. Thank you so much. This was very useful. Thank you.

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Thanks, Shreya.

Operator

Thank you. Next question is from Madhukar Ladha from Nuvama Wealth Management. Please go ahead.

Madhukar Ladha
Equity Research Analyst, Nuvama Wealth Management

Hi. Thank you for taking my question. I got disconnected in between today during this, hence I repeat. When you point out comparative intensity, have you seen some letdown in comparative intensity due to increased.

Due to probably slightly lower commission payouts? Because E&M ratios remain high for a lot of private guys. Is it because of that that the PSU guys are increasing their share, or is it that the PSU players' pricing itself is lower? That was one question really. What is your expectation given that now a considerable amount of time has passed and E&M levels still remain very high for a lot of the guys? What is your expectation on what can happen over there? Thanks.

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Yeah. So Madhukar, I think you are absolutely right. I think what will be a key watch will be because this will be the third year of the glide path that the regulator has announced in 2024.

Even if you look at public disclosure of all the companies which is now out for FY 2025 as we speak, it's been about 50% of those companies are still yet to draw the line within the limit of 30% or 35% that the regulator has stipulated. That will be something that will be closely watched for. Clearly, if you recollect, even last year when the regulator had kind of looked at these companies, they have been asked to kind of give a clear roadmap every quarter in terms of what is their plan to achieve the numbers within that limit of 30% or 35%. Hence, that will be clearly a key determinant for most of the players who have not necessarily yet met the limits.

What could happen in terms of the competitive intensity is, again, which is what we responded in response to one of the earlier calls, which is to say that I think players who have chosen to be very aggressive in the last two, three years, I think you can clearly see basis their public disclosures, their combined ratios have got significantly impacted. They are kind of clearly calibrating growth numbers. Hence, of course, this is market. Obviously, there are other set of players who choose to then get a bit aggressive. In entirety, when you put all of this together, which is why we called out, industry combined ratio still continues to remain elevated at 113%. Within that, motor continues to stay elevated at 124%. How long can this subsist? Honestly.

We believe that you cannot continue to lose INR 0.25 to a dollar for a very long period of time.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Also, Madhukar, we also believe that sometimes the solution you are seeking on the E&M can be worse than the problem. That is what Gopal is talking about. You may want to chase business which comes on a lower cost of acquisition and a pricing which is very aggressive now. Clearly, if that is the solution industry seeks to manage the E&M glide path, we will let them take that call. To be fair, it is each one of his own self on that. We will have to see how it plays out.

Madhukar Ladha
Equity Research Analyst, Nuvama Wealth Management

Right. Also, a follow-up. See, even on health, because of the long-term policies, how has industry sort of reacted in terms of payment of commission as well on the long-term policies? That is one part of the question.

Are most people paying?

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

That is, Madhukar, it's all one by one. We pay it on a yearly basis for long-term health policy. Yeah.

Madhukar Ladha
Equity Research Analyst, Nuvama Wealth Management

Okay. On the new premiums, are we seeing some sort of reduction in commission in the new? Because that was one of the expectations also given.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

It is. You are spot on. Definitely, there's a delta which exists between the fresh sourcing of health and the renewal. To be fair, it's at the industry level. It's not only for ICICI Lombard .

Madhukar Ladha
Equity Research Analyst, Nuvama Wealth Management

Right. Got it. Got it. Thank you. Thanks.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Thank you, Madhukar. Thank you. Bye. Thank you.

Operator

Before we take the next question, a reminder to participants that you may press star and one to ask questions. The next question is from Dipanjan Ghosh from Citi. Please go ahead.

Dipanjan Ghosh
VP, Citi

Hi, sir. Just two questions.

One, on the group health part, obviously, you have kind of moderated your growth trajectory from the second half of last year given the unpredicted pressure. Just wanted to get some sense into a base kind of normalizing from the second half of this year. I mean, how do you see the growth in that part of the segment and the competitive intensity? Your loss ratio has also kind of improved a little bit on a volume basis. How do you see that segment behaving on the corporate employer and health side? Second, on the retail health portion of the business, I mean, I think this question was asked previously also, but from that calculation, it suggests that loss ratios on the backbook are probably kind of operating at levels which is.

Maybe a little bit higher than what the industry averages are, or maybe your stated average is of around 65%-70%, maybe 600, on the backbook as we've talked about. First of all, is the transmission correct? And secondly, I mean, if yes, then how do you kind of aim to recalibrate it?

Gopal Balachandran
CFO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Group health, Dipanjan, I think t he call is pretty much similar to what we spoke about on the rest of the lines as well. Now, this is a segment where when some new X is coming about, let's say, typically, you get to exhibit maybe slightly chunky premium, but maybe comes at a relatively lower cost of acquisition.

Hence, competitive intensity continues to be higher on that particular segment, given the fact what I spoke about on possibly some companies wanting to write this segment of business to meet their expense of management obligations. Within that is how we have played out our growth. We will watch for the development in case, I think, if we see signs of easing for, let's say, for companies who have to meet their E&M, then obviously, I think we are well placed to write the risk back. The good news, as we keep saying in our businesses, the majority of our risks are one-year risk. Therefore, to that extent, our ability to possibly get it back is always there with us. On the second one, I think.

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

On the second one, on the retail health, it was more with respect to loss ratio.

The loss ratios that we are talking about, I think Gopal has already spoken about it. We do believe that coming quarters, but this is. The mix the way it comes out and the lot of NEP that comes in, and we have seen a bit of a frequency spike here and there. Your backend calculation is spot on, and we do believe that as a company, we would fare a lot better in coming quarters as the growth of new would start. Overall, impacting our loss ratios positively. Your calculation is right, and we are also expecting a similar trend.

Dipanjan Ghosh
VP, Citi

Got it. Thank you, sir, and all the best .

Sanjeev Mantri
MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Thank you. Thank you, Dipanjan.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Neeraj, who's an individual investor.

Speaker 12

Your call on hold. Please stay on the line.

Operator

Yeah. Neeraj is now seemed to be on hold.

That was the last question in queue. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjeev Mantri for any closing comments.

Sanjeev Mantri
CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited

Yeah. Thank you so much for joining me. I think you both had a long day, back-to-back calls. There were IBFC Live and your ICICI Lombard. So enough and more calls. Look, I mean, we've spoken overarching what we want to focus on, and we look forward to interacting with each one of you in the course of the quarter. All the best, and take care of yourself. Thank you so much.

Operator

Thank you very much. On behalf of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, that concludes the conference. Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. You may now disconnect your line.

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