Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to SBI Life Insurance Company Limited Q3 FY 2026 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, all participant lines 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 conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star and then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Amit Jhingran, Managing Director and CEO, SBI Life, for his opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure to welcome you all to the results update call of SBI Life Insurance for the period ended 31 December 2025. We appreciate and thank you for your valuable time and efforts in analyzing the results and participating in the earnings call. Updates on our financial results are available on our website, as well as the websites of both the stock exchanges. Along with me, Mr. Sangramjit Singh Sarangi, President and CFO, Abhijit Gulanikar, President, Business Strategy, Subhendu Bal, President and Chief Risk Officer, Prithesh Chaubey, President and Appointed Actuary, and Smita Verma, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, are present. The life insurance industry witnessed improved momentum during the third quarter, supported by recent regulatory measures and a gradual shift in customer preference towards protection-oriented products.
The exemption of GST on individual policies contributed to improved affordability and added demand during the quarter. We have achieved significant milestone that underscores the strength and scale of our business. Our assets under management, the AUM, surpassed INR 5 trillion. That is INR 500,000 crore, reflecting sustained customer confidence and long-term value creation driven by disciplined execution. In December, SBI Life outperformed the overall industry on an IRP basis, driven by volume growth and higher individual policy sales. While in Q3, the company led the private life insurance segment with a 68 basis point scale. Besides, it achieved a 192 basis point gain on a total rated premium basis, reinforcing its strong market position and competitive performance. This performance reflects the resilience, operational efficiency, and productivity across all our distribution channels, agency, bancassurance, direct, and digital.
As customer needs continue to evolve, SBI Life remains focused on innovation and strengthening its offerings to drive sustainable growth and long-term value for all stakeholders. Now, let me give you some key highlights for the period ended 31 December 2025. New business premium stands at INR 313.3 billion, with a 19% growth and a private market share of 23.5%. Individual rated new business premium, IRP, stands at INR 166.8 billion, with a growth of 15% and private market share of 25.6%. Gross written premium stands at INR 733.5 billion with a growth of 20%. Our profit after tax grew by 4% to INR 16.7 billion as compared to the corresponding period last year.
Value of new business stands at INR 50.4 billion with a growth of 17%. VONB margin stands at 27.2% for the period ended 31 December 2025, with a gain of 34 basis points. Indian embedded value for the company as on 31 December 2025, stands at INR 801.3 billion. Our assets under management stands at INR 5.1 trillion, with a growth of 16% over corresponding period last year. Solvency ratio of 1.91 as against the regulatory requirement of 1.50. We will now update you on each of the key parameters in detail. Let me start with the premium. Individual rated premium stands at INR 166.8 billion, with a YOY growth of 15%.
While retaining our leadership position with a 25.6% private market share and an 18.6 total market share, it grew by 14.4% with a 3-year CAGR, outperforming the industry average of 10.4%. Total new business premium is INR 313.3 billion, with private market share stands at 23.5%, sorry, and total market share stands at 10.1%. Group new business premium stands at INR 87.8 billion, with a contribution of 28% in new business premium. Renewal premium grew by 21% to INR 420.2 billion, which accounts for 57% of the gross written premium. To sum up, gross written premium stands at INR 733.5 billion, with a growth of 20% over corresponding previous period.
APE stands at INR 185.2 billion, registering a growth of 16%. Out of this, individual APE stands at INR 168.8 billion, with a growth of 15%. During the period ended 31 December 2025, total 16.5 lakh new policies covering 18.3 million lives were underwritten. The growth in sum assured reflects a strong consumer confidence and rising awareness of financial protection. Individual and group new business sum assured increased by 74% and 67% respectively, compared to the same period last year. While rider sum assured has grown significantly, now contributing 30% of the individual sum assured. Let me give you details about the product mix.
For the period of 9 months, financial year 2026, guaranteed non-par savings are contributing 18% on individual APE basis, while ULIP stands at INR 114.3 billion, contributing 68% versus 72% last year for the same period. Protection business contributes 9% of APE and stands at INR 16.6 billion. We continue to maintain a strong focus on the protection business, which remains a key pillar of our growth strategy. The protection segment recorded robust performance with a 24% year-on-year growth on an APE basis. Individual protection APE is at INR 6.4 billion, with a growth of 21% as compared to 9 months FY 2025.
It is noteworthy that the pure protection category saw a strong growth of 98% on an individual APE basis, reflecting rising awareness and demand for comprehensive financial protection, while the individual sum assured in the protection segment grew by 87%. Group protection APE stands at INR 10.2 billion, with a strong growth of 25%. Credit Life APE has grown by 20% and stands at INR 2.1 billion, and GTI APE has grown by 27%, standing at INR 8.1 billion. Individual APE for participating products stands at INR 12.3 billion, with an exceptional growth of 116% year-on-year. Our recently launched product, Smart Money Back Plus, has garnered a premium of INR 5.6 billion. Traction in individual non-par saving products on APE basis continues and witnessed growth of 20%.
Retirement plans assist customers in building a substantial corpus of funds to maintain the desired lifestyle and manage expenses in their golden years. Total annuity and pension new business underwritten by the company is INR 64.1 billion. Moving to update on our distribution partners. With a strength of more than 58,000 CIFs, the bancassurance business of SBI and RRBs contributes 62% of the total APE. On an individual APE basis, it stands at INR 112.3 billion, reflecting growth of 16%. SBI branch productivity on individual APE terms stands at INR 6.4 million for this period, registering a growth of 15%. Banks other than SBI Group are also growing at 24% on total APE basis.
As on 31st December 2025, agency individual APE stood at INR 48.8 billion, growing 11%, with agent productivity at INR 3 lakh. The channel witnessed a shift in product mix. Non-ULIP share increased from 31% to 37% for nine-month period, supported by robust 86% growth in agency individual sum assured. The company added over 94,000 agents on a gross basis. We have opened 66 new branches this year. This expansion is aligned with our vision to create infrastructure that supports the long-term development of our agency channel. The other channels, direct corporate agents, brokers, online, and web aggregators for nine months grew by 33% and contributed 11% of total APE. Non-par business growth through other channel registered growth of 32% on individual APE basis.
We are investing in building our online business channel, and for 9 months of this channel has grown by 45% on APE basis. Coming to updates on profitability, our financial performance reflects the impact of GST and revised labor law. Taking these factors into account, the company's profit after tax for the period ended thirty-first December 2025, stood at INR 16.7 billion, representing a 4% growth over the corresponding period last year. Excluding this impact, the profit after tax for the period ended thirty-first December 2025, would have been, rupees 21.5 billion with a growth of 34%. Our solvency remained strong at 1.91, as against regulatory requirement of 1.50.
Value of new business stood at INR 50.4 billion, reflecting 17% growth with a margin of 27.2% for the period ended thirty-first December 2025, up from 26.9% in nine months FY 2025, driven by both volume growth and favorable shift in product mix. The margin is reported after accounting for the impact of GST. Excluding this impact, the VONB margin would have stood at 28.3% with a gain of 140 basis points. In Q3 FY 2026, VONB reached INR 22.9 billion, registering a 22% increase over the same quarter last year. Embedded value for the company as on December thirty-one, 2025, stands at INR 801.3 billion, with a growth of 16%, sorry, 18% over corresponding period. Excuse me.
Opex ratio stands at 6.2%, and total cost ratio stands at 11.2% for the period ended 31 December 2025, as compared to 5.3% and 10.2% respectively for the period ended December 31, 2024. With respect to persistency of individual regular premium, 13th month persistency stands at 87.1%, with an improvement of 101 basis points. While there has been a slight decline in other cohorts during the current period, we remain confident that persistency will improve by the end of the year. As mentioned in my opening remarks, assets under management stand at INR 5.12 trillion as at 31 December 2025, having a growth of 16%. Net claims settlement ratio stands at 99.3% for this period.
Our mis-selling ratio stands at 0.02%, which is one of the lowest in the private industry, and this is achieved through our consistent approach adopted by the company to ensure right selling of the customers. Digitalization is transforming the life insurance industry, enabling us to deliver enhanced services and a more seamless experience for our customers. As we embrace this digital transformation, we remain committed to innovation and excellence, ensuring that we stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.
The company continues efficient usage of technology for simplification of processes, with 99.7% of the individual proposals being submitted digitally. 58% of the individual proposals are processed through automated underwriting. In conclusion, by embedding resilience and continuous improvement at the core of our culture, and by strategically strengthening our key channels, we are well positioned for sustained growth. Our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional customer service not only deepens client relationships, but also reinforces our reputation as a trusted and leading force in the market. Thank you, all, and now we are happy to take any questions that you may have.
Thank you very much. We will now begin with the Q&A session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and then one on their touchtone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Again, to register for a question, you may press star and one. Our first question comes from the line of Avinash Singh from Emkay Global Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good evening. Thanks for the opportunity. Good set of numbers, considering the GST level 4 impacts, the kind of consistent margins and a very strong VNB, particularly in the quarter. That's kind of a, I would say, great achievement. First is particularly a bit I would like to know on product mix. So, in the current environment, where there has been kind of a repo rate cut that leads to deposit rate going down, but bond yields kind of holding or inching up, typically a non-par savings growth, one would have expected to be better or rather stronger than the overall growth. But, at least in the quarter, it has not moved. So what's happening there, I mean, that is kind of hampering the demand of non-par in the market, I mean, your experience?
Secondly, related or sort of likely unrelated. Solvency at 191% is far, far above, I would say, the regulatory requirement of 150%. But typically in your embedded value and all your, I guess, management threshold is 180-odd%. So do you see, I mean, this solvency and organic profit generation to be sufficient enough for you to allow a strong growth across product segment, like, say, whatsoever product is growing, maybe protection non-par? So I mean, do you see any sort of limitation coming from that side that can kind of lead to some optimization on product or rather your solvency or capital totally adequate to provide a strong growth across the products? So these are two questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Avinash, for your appreciation. So product mix, as far as you were talking about, non-par growth, so I would like to highlight that on IRP basis, the growth in pure non-par products, excluding protection, is 10%. Production has grown by 44%. The numbers of non-par could have been better, but during the quarter, we launched our participating product, Money Back, and a lot of our distributors got diverted to that new product, and it showed very strong growth. So if you look at the non-par, par combined growth, it has been much better than our overall IRP growth.
As far as solvency is concerned, yes, it has slightly come down than the H1 numbers, but then that is also a result of our product mix. lot of protection is being written, and if you look at the total sum assured that has been written by the company, we are one of the highest, with more than 74% growth on total sum assured. That is having some impact on the solvency. But at 1.91, we are comfortable, and we are very sure that going forward in the short term, this will continue to support our growth.
Thank you. Just a quick follow-up. I mean, if I were to see, I mean, the labor force impact or GST impact, everything now particularly is already numbers, and also in product mix terms, typically, I mean, par have done or around grown non-par. So all these factor already is kind of in base. So is it safe to kind of assume that going ahead, the margins typically would be better than where it has been in the quarter? Is it a safe kind of assumption?
So as far as margin is concerned, we are very happy that the guidance that we had provided of between 26% and 28%, we have been able to maintain that at the middle range of that. As far as GST impact is concerned, see, that impact is going to continue because the business will be there and commission payment will be there. The GST payment on that commission will continue to be there. But by our internal processes, by strengthening our product mix, our distribution mix, and having leverage on our other operational expenses, et cetera, we have been able to maintain the margin as per our guidance. So we continue to stick to our guidance of between 27% and 28% in the coming quarter also.
Got it. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Prayesh Jain from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. I'm convinced with your numbers. Just, you know, coming to the channel, channel performance, you know, how do you see the SBI as a channel growing from here on? It's been showing a very strong momentum in the, in the last few months. Do you see this momentum getting stronger, going ahead? How, how do you think about, SBI as a channel, and what are the kind of levers we have there to, grow the business more aggressively?
So as far as channel mix is concerned, we are happy that our overall growth numbers, that the guidance that we had provided of about 13%-14%, we have been able to maintain that and slightly, maybe even better than the guidance. Within the channel mix, different channels have their seasonality, and third quarter specifically has always been very good for SBI Life. There is some good traction being seen in the SBI also of late, and we are very sure that in the fourth quarter also, we will be able to maintain our overall growth number as per our guidance of 13%-14%. And within that, all the channels are performing as per our expectations.
So this 13%-14% growth guidance is on the APE growth?
Yes. Sorry, come back again.
The 13%-14% growth is for the full year APE growth?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yes.
Okay. So what would be your thought process with respect to, say, now we are already into the tenth month of this year. What, how do you see the next year shaping up for, from a growth perspective?
There is good traction being seen in the last quarter. As a company and as a player in the industry, we hope that this trend noticed in the last quarter will continue for some time, for this quarter and in the coming year also.
Got that. So my second question is on the cost ratios. You know, while we are amongst the, we are the amongst the best in the industry, by far the best in the industry, but we've seen this increasing, right? For sort of the total cost ratio has gone up to about 11.2% in nine months. I'm sure there, there will be some implications of GST and labor laws in it. But, you know, as you said, the GST impact is gonna be there and, but labor law could be one time. But, how do we see this cost ratios going ahead, you know? Do we see this at, you know, topping out at cur-- at anywhere close to current levels, or do you think this will continue to increase?
The cost ratio is also. You see, the product mix is also one of the factors for the cost ratio. So there is some impact of improvement in product mix on the cover cost ratio. As you rightly said, GST and the labor code impact has also been there. Going forward, I think we will continue to maintain in the same range, plus minus, approximately.
We have to differentiate between operating cost and commission. Operating cost, like we have already said, we will continue to maintain, and if our product mix further improves, there could be some increase in commission ratio, but that is part of the overall mix, so that should not matter.
Okay. So last question: anything on, you know, the, you know, there are discussions going around with respect to commission, you know, toppings, in the industry. Any thoughts that you want to share on this one?
So we continue to be the lowest cost operator in the industry, and we are ready for any kind of changes, if any, coming from the regulator side on the commission front.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Participants, you may press star and then one to ask a question. Our next question comes from the line of Madhukar Ladha from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening. Congratulations on a good set of numbers. I have a couple of questions. First, on the VNB margin. I think in the first half call, you had mentioned that ceteris paribus, the impact of GST is about 175 basis points. That would be sort of on a full year basis, compared to like FY 2025 full year margins. I wanted to get a sense that now that this quarter is over, what would that number be? And you know, what is the sort of benefit that we've got because of a better product mix in 3Q?
So if I were to just look at 3Q margins, you know, where are we tracking in terms of the impact of just the 3Q margins, just GST on the 3Q margins? And second, so when I look at you know protection growth, so versus peers, our individual protection growth has been lower. And in this environment, because of the you know GST cut, et cetera, one would expect like even stronger protection growth. So what's the thought process there, and how are you sort of looking at protection over the next you know couple of years, if you can see further acceleration happening out there? Lastly, sir, these new labor laws, can you quantify what is the impact? I may have missed that in your opening remarks. Have you accounted for this impact in your EV disclosure that you have given? Yeah, those will be my three questions. Thanks.
So, I'll come to your second question first. The protection growth for the year on the IRP basis has been 26.1%. And, including group also, we have seen some good protection growth in credit life.
Twenty-seven percent.
27%+. So overall, the protection growth is better than the company's overall growth numbers. Our focus on protection products, as you must have noticed, we have launched several products in last one year in the protection segment and very competitively priced. Our protection product on the YONO channel is also giving us very good numbers. We have sold more than 1.5 lakh policies in last 9 months in this financial year. So the focus on protection continues to be there. As far as impact of new labor law is concerned, it is INR 135 crore, which has been accounted for in our profit statement, profitability statement. Yes, this has also been counted under the EV calculation. Now, regarding VONB margin, I will request our Chief Actuary, Mr. Prithesh Chaubey, to respond.
Thank you, sir. I would call on this margin front, what we explained last time, that the full year impact will be 175 basis points, and that we primarily will try to get offset by the more better product mix. If I look into this quarter, the full year, the business impact is around 150 basis points. And this is coming because you, you might be noticed that there is slightly increase in the ULIP mix and that, that part. But that also help us to get lesser impact on the GST. So if you look at YTD basis, is 110 basis points. We are still holding up that by end of the year, impact, most of the impact will get observed by our product, better product mix, and maybe left with a 30-40 basis point, not more than that, at the end of the year.
Got it. Just one follow-up. The reduction you're seeing in persistency in the 21st, 37th, 61st month a little bit. You know, any comments in that? And have we assumed enough or do we have some margin of error over there, or would that result in sort of some negative operating experience?
There is no concern at all in the persistency is concerned. We have got a very good strong growth in our renewal premiums, almost around about 20-21%. If you see, the 13-month persistency also has shown the growth, better as compared to the previous numbers. Only the 61-month persistency which has come down, which, previously also we have communicated that this is the COVID cohort which is going to hit this year. This is going to be the last, cohort which we are expecting. 25th month and the 37-month, it is just a marginal, which we are, very hopeful that it will be cover up in the current, quarter itself. And 49 months, we are very clear that it is going to be positive. We don't have any issue at first year at this moment as far as the persistency is concerned across cohorts.
Got it, sir. Got it. All right, sir, congratulations on good set of numbers and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sanket Godha from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Sir, if I understood right, you said in 2Q, annualized impact was 175 basis points on the margin due to GST, which you cut it down to 115, and by end of the full year, the impact should not be on annualized basis, more than 30-40 basis points. That's the way you are trying to tell, sir?
Yes, the impact net of this product mix will be nothing more than 30-40 basis points.
Okay. So, basically, compared to the last year, I mean, basically, compared to the last year, if you don't make any assumption changes, which you typically do in the fourth quarter, then the margins for the company will be 30-40 basis points lower compared to the last year. That's the way I need to understand, right?
Yeah, that's correct.
Okay. Actually, assumption changes which will play out in fourth quarter will probably add on maintain the margins, maybe, hopefully.
Yeah, that will come back. It also depends on the product mix. Yeah.
Understood. Understood. Understood. And the second question, sir, is on the growth. So basically, if I look last three odd years, the fourth quarter is typically 22% lower compared to the third quarter. Maybe that was not the case pre-COVID. Just wanted to understand that trend will continue, because sales typically get upfronted in more than three Q. So is it safe to say that in fourth quarter, your growth will be 20% kind of lower compared to three Q?
As far as growth is concerned, for the entire year, we had given a guidance of 13%-14%, and we continue to stick to that for the entire financial year also.
So, which means that you are already at 16% growth in nine months. So, if you don't beat the guidance, then it's like 10-11% growth for the fourth quarter. That, I'm assuming that number will be little conservative. So just wanted to understand that point.
No, no, we will definitely be much better than 10, 11, if you look at the individual quarter. But overall guidance for the year remains at 14%.
But.
Okay.
Sir, three will remain our biggest quarter-
Yeah.
in absolute number. So basically, fourth quarter should, should be smaller than, than, little bit smaller than, than the third quarter, in that sense?
Yes, absolute number, yes. Absolute number, yes, but the growth, growth numbers are different than the absolute numbers.
Understood, sir. If you can quantify the guidance for 27, if you have already started working on budget, that will be useful. Second question is, now you are the only company among all the listed names, even the recently listed names, you don't have any exposure to Deferred Annuity. So any thoughts you have on maybe growing the annuity business by launching a Deferred Annuity? Because now entire industry has launched it. So just wanted to understand your thoughts on that particular product.
So on the Deferred Annuity, we are already working on that. So we'll do that just to get this... So we have one product. So as of now, we have, this is not that we don't have Deferred Annuity. We have a Deferred Annuity, but that is on single premium.
Yes.
What we realize that people are looking for the more limited pay kind of deferred annuity. We are working on that, and hopefully we'll go and launch those product as well.
I think 6% for annuity business, individual annuity in this quarter, with single annuity on retail basis. The annuity is seeing good traction even without the regular paid deferred product. Hi, no. So, so the reason I'm asking, sir, is that, just typically, it is believed that regular paid Deferred Annuity has a superior margin, and, and maybe the growth could have been much more accelerated, if, if you would have had that product in your kitty. So, so from, from that perspective, I'm just asking, any thoughts and – or, fundamentally, you believe that a regular paid Deferred Annuity is not a great product, and therefore it cannibalizes into Non-par, and that's why you don't want to launch it.
No, no, we are working on it, and we will learn that. So not the case.
Okay. Okay.
It is not that if we don't have one product, then our growth is suffering because of that. We continue to take advantage of all available market opportunities. And if something is missing from our arsenal, we have definite reasons for that, and we continue to work on those reasons and introduce appropriate product at appropriate time.
Understood, sir. And maybe if you can, if you are working on the budget 2027 numbers, if you can guide. And lastly, can you give rider numbers for the individual term assurance, which is 30%? But if I want to check on ULIPs, what is your rider attachments on premium basis or in policy count communication?
The policy count is approximately 35%-40%.
Okay.
Premium, we don't look into because premium is a peanuts, because if you see the most of the saving product, you compare rider premium that is only standard. But we are more than happy, and we are trying to improve further this attachment, with rider attachment. And 35%, 40%, our objective is to improve from there. This is also indicate that how, riders are important for the customer to, provide the protection, which is the sole objective of any insurance company like that. As far as, FY 2027 guidance is, concerned, we are still working on the numbers.
We have seen very good traction in the last quarter, and we are keeping very close watch on how these one or two months of this quarter pan out, and you will have to wait a bit for the final guidance for the next financial year. But I will assure that it will not be lower than what we are currently growing at.
Perfect. Understood. Thanks for your answers.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Rishi Jhunjhunwala from IIFL. Please go ahead.
Yes, thanks for the opportunity. Couple of questions, sir. One is, you know, this quarter, the amount of par that we have sold is almost more than what we have sold the entire last year or last four quarters. So just wanted to understand, I mean, what is driving this, right? I mean, is there a specific push towards this product because it was easier to absorb, you know, some of the GST impact here? Or how do we look at it, if it is a one-off and then it will ROP down to the normal rate going forward?
This is par portfolio, as we earlier also mentioned, even if you want 3, 4 calls earlier as well. We are continually revamping our product suite, and last year when the regulation came, our priority was to prioritize the savings product and non-par and protection, and subsequently we are having less par products. There is significant demand in the market for par, particularly for the child segment and the money-back. So last this year, we have launched both the products, one on the child segment, other is the limited pay money back par, and other is the regular pay money back. So this product is a lot of requirement from our sales force from the last 15 to 18 months, that we have launched.
There were demands from all sides, but when the product has gone, there is a lot of traction, and that's the reason we see the growth in the par business. But if you look into absolute, if you just ignore this growth, but if you look at the composition of the par in our portfolio, it still is much lower. So you may see the growth in the par going forward, but this is our product management approach that we are finally to we are back and working on including the riders, and there is nothing linked with the GST for the growth of the par.
Understood, sir. The second question is on solvency. So it is now in this quarter at a multi-year low, and we have a potential dividend announcement coming in Q4, when we typically see 10-15 percentage point for the ROP in solvency. So, you know, how do we look at that, and any need for capital requirement, if any, that could lead to?
No, as far as our dividend distribution is concerned, we follow a principle which we are constantly following for the last few years. As far as the solvency is concerned, I think if you see, it hovers between 192-202. So we are pretty comfortable on this range. And as far as business, the way we have been doing and the product mix is shifting, that was anticipated that there would be some kind of pressure on the solvency. But we are quite confident that our backlogs as well as our business growth, which we're anticipating in the next quarter, we don't see any pressure on the solvency per se, towards the declaration of dividend is concerned.
Understood, sir. And just one last clarification, I'm sorry to repeat this question, one of, the other analysts had also asked. Nine months, we have grown 16%. Our guidance for full year is 13%-14%. You know, so that implies that Q4 growth will be 10% at the higher end. And Q4 last year was not a, a strong growth year for us, so even the base is quite favorable. So is there, you know, any, anything that we are missing out, or it's just that we don't, do not want to revise the guidance at this point of time? Because otherwise it will mean a reasonable slowdown in growth next quarter.
No, I am very sure that too much should not be read into these numbers. As far as full year growth is concerned, we had given a guidance, and there is no point in revising that guidance at the end of tenth month. So, I am sure that you will be seeing that we meet our guidance with a positive bias.
Understood. So it's fair enough, sir. That's, that's clear. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Vinod Rajamani from Nirmal Bang. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for taking my questions. I have two questions. The first one is on this, on the protection products, specifically. So if I look at the individual sum assured, that's grown up by almost 74%, but your individual protection new business premium has grown by 25%. So, this sum assured inflation which is happening, is that because of, say, selling more of a return of premium kind of term plans, or, is it because, you know, the sum assured on your series products itself have gone up? So, that is, that is question number one. Second question was on, on this, channel, you know, economics and so on.
So the bank insurance productivity has jumped around 15%, and your agency productivity is at INR 3 lakh, you know, despite adding some 25% more agents. This OPEX ratio has gone up by 90 basis points to 6.2%. So just wanted to know how much of this OPEX increase is related to agency and, you know, at what is the realistic timeline we should have in mind before this agency productivity also starts inching upwards? So these were two questions. One was on agency productivity going upwards, and the second is on why there is a divergence between the sum assured and the new business premium on the protection side.
The divergence between the sum assured and the premium is on account of the growth in the total protection, and within the protection, the share of ROP has gone down. Share of pure protection has gone up, which where the premiums are lower. So the total premium growth is lower than the total sum assured growth. That is as far as your protection query is concerned. Regarding the increase in OpEx, as already said, that this is also a result of change in product mix. The productivity on the agency side, there is already an uptick, not only on the productivity, also on the number of agents have increased, and despite that, the productivity is showing a good increase in the number.
Yes, sir.
Strengthening of agency channel is ongoing, and we want to improve our total agency contribution in the channel mix.
Yes, sir. So, so that's perfect, sir, and also the agency bit. Just on this, sum assured, so the—I see the individual sum assured has gone up by 74%, whereas the... So this is excluding the group business. So, and your individual NBP protection has gone up by 25%. So, so that, so, so the reason why I was asking is the, why is there the gap between, say, the 74 and 25? Is this because, you know, you're selling more of, return of premium kind of products, or is it because-
No, it's reverse. It is actually reverse.
Okay, it's the other way around.
For the same sum assured, ROP has a higher premium than pure protection.
Yes.
Here, our mix is improving in favor of pure protection, so the premium is going down for the same sum assured.
Understood. Okay, thanks so much. Yeah, that, those were my two questions. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Raghavesh from JM Financial. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. I had a couple of questions. So first, on the gross impact of GST in this quarter. So on an absolute number, the impact is around INR 1.3 billion, which is almost 5% of the Q3 VNB. So I'm unable to reconcile that, how that, you know, fits with the overall 1.75% or 1.7% impact for the full year. And secondly, on the Banca route, so this quarter, in fact, starting from September, the Banca route has been a positive surprise. So anything to read into that? Should we start extrapolating this kind of growth in our models? Because, say, a couple of quarters back, weak growth from Banca was a key concern. So these were our
Yeah, so on the GST side, on the margin, what we are saying that the business that we retained in this Q3, which is purely post GST, the impact on the margin of. You know that this is only for the one quarter, and the GST impact came on the twenty-second of September. So the impact that you are seeing in 110 basis points that we disclose is on account of the new business retained after the twenty-second of September, and the earlier business during the financial year, we have the GST impact on the renewal commissions. And once going forward, once this will move to the next year, the impact for the all business will be 150 basis points on an annualized basis.
What we are saying that the impact that we're going to get on the new business on account of GST, the 150 basis points will get offset mostly by the better product mix in terms of the rider business and within the product and different kind of products, and that will mostly offset, and balance remain will be approximately 30-40 basis points at end of this year. As far as Bancassurance growth is concerned, first, let me clarify that there has never been any degrowth in the Bancassurance channel in last two years or even three years kind of period.
Yes, the growth rate has come down to higher single digits, and fourth quarter growth, as far as it's concerned, you are aware that in Q3, October, November, December has always been a very strong quarter for SBI Life, and this year's growth was also added by, I will say, that the GST issue, the GST exemption that has been granted, the affordability has improved, and probably that has effect on the entire industry, including, the SBI Life, which has posted very good numbers in Q3.
Okay. So nothing specific which has changed in the SBI Bank channel in the last 3-4 months? It's just the industry changing
No, it's a natural growth progression.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Mohit Mangal from Centrum. Please go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, thanks for the opportunity, and congratulations on good set of numbers. I've got three questions. My first question is that if you can throw some light on the ratio of return to premium to pure term, you know, in the individual protection segment, you know, at the end of 9 months, and maybe how it has, you know, evolved over the last 2 to 3 years, then that would be helpful. My second question is towards the attachment rate. Just tell me, what was the attachment rate in the credit life segment? And my third question is in terms of the number of branches. I think you said that, you know, you have increased the number of branches by 66 in this year. Wanted to understand your strategy in terms of how it will go in financial 27, and will it impact the cost structure?
So credit life, 52% is our attachment rate for home loans. On the pure protection for three years, we will give you that data offline for three years trend. And on the branches, we have a very large base, and we start branch, you know, in a very standardized way. So there is some impact on profit, but it-
Right.
On the cost, sorry, but that is not material in SBI Life scale.
Okay.
We start, you know, small six-person branch unit, and it has, you know,
Yeah
not such a big cost, in the first, few years. We, we expand only when the branch stabilizes.
Understood. And this will be opened in Tier two and Tier three, right?
So some of them are in Tier 1 also. So depending upon what is the potential we see in a particular area, is what where we open the branch. Not necessarily, obviously, many of them are in Tier 2, Tier 3, but not necessarily in Tier 2, Tier 3.
Understood. This is helpful. Thank you. Wish you all the best.
Yes.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Harshal Mehta from Antique Stock Broking. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity. Two questions from my end. First, in terms of non-par, so if you can just highlight how is doing the traction in our new product launch, Smart Platina Advantage, and do you expect non-par product to increase the proportion of par and will going down? That was one. And secondly, in terms of ULIP, is it safe to assume, like if you have ULIP at 62% of the fund value, can we expect to reach to if I continue to deliver to 58% over the next two years, and the par and non-par being, you know, again, in zero. So that was two questions on our side. Thank you.
So in product that we run, non-par, correct, yes, we see very good traction in the market. And there are two, three reasons for it. We have given more flexibility and also giving the longer term guarantee. So we introduce 30 years kind of guarantee as well. So we see a lot of traction. And similar thing is happening in the par product that we have launched. I think going forward, you might see that the par, non-par together, we'll see the growth, and that growth will help you to improve the margin, because your ULIP will come down on that basis.
And it's also phenomena of the a s we always said, that our objective is to give the full view of the product to the customer, and depending on their needs, the customer will look for the guarantee they're going to get exactly the product. Another, in terms of the liquidity from the customer perspective, and the customer looking for the upside, the limited guarantee with the upside, going to the par product.
All the best.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Shobhit Sharma from HDFC Securities Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, sir. Thanks for the opportunity and congrats on a great set, now, great set of numbers. So my first question is on your rider attachment. You have mentioned that the rider attachment is currently in the range of 35%-40%. We had plans on attachment of riders in the renewal business. So if you can share some updates on that, where are we on that? Secondly, Bancassurance, we have seen very strong growth in third quarter. Can you comment some qualitative comments around how the growth has been for the month of January? And sir, is it right to assume that the growth in Bancassurance was primarily driven by the launch of the new Par product? Because it seems easier to shift from ULIP to a Par product versus a non-par. So if you can help us understand that.
And we have been driving digitization initiatives in SBI Bank, which was a cause of a slowdown in the SBI Bank channel via the YONO app. So if you can comment on that, how the business is shaping up from the YONO app and all of that. And lastly, on the product pipeline for the Q4, if you can help us understand how the product pipeline is building up for the Q4, and have we launched any product? So these are my questions. Yeah, thank you.
So on the rider attachment, we have just begun in this quarter, rider attachment on renewal that has just started, though, we want to increase the set of products on which rider attachment is available, that will probably take the next quarter. So current set of existing products which are in force with the rider attachment have started. Products which are closed for new business, rider attachment has not yet started. That also we hope we will start. On the banca, like, we would continue to expect a decent growth coming forward, going forward, you know, similar in line with maybe a little more less than the company growth, that we see in the banca, overall company growth. As far as new products, we have already launched Smart Platina Advantage, and there is work going on the other products, which may come this fiscal year or maybe early first quarter, FY 2027.
Okay. So just to follow up on the renewal, rider attachment. So is this pertaining to a particular business segment, ULIP or non-par, wherein we have started attaching the riders? Or, if some comments around that, please.
Both, both.
On the renewal side, you mentioned we have started attaching-
On both.
So this is across all
On both, we have 18 products, not closed for new business. Which are open for new business, where they have started from first October, some of them have started a little earlier. So first renewals have already started coming in for the products which we are currently selling. For that, rider attachment is in place.
And just to add, we have given flexibility to the customer in case they are able to opt to attach the rider at the beginning of the policy, they are option to attach in the subsequent policy anniversary as well. So, you might see that renewal, not only the one term that before the new business, which has been sold before the launch of this rider will get attached. But some of the policy which is missing today for rider, you may see that the customer will also go and opt for the rider in subsequent premium payment ride.
Okay. Sir, what about the progress on the YONO? How much business are we able to channelize via that? If you can comment around that.
150,000 policies, we have already sold in current year, and that is a pure protection product that we sell.
Okay, sir. And, Prithesh, just one question on the, since you mentioned that we have a given option of attachment of riders on the policy which, on the new products which we launched in the last year. So how the VNB margins would be considered for that? Because if that premium comes in the rider, will that be classified as a new business premium, or would it be considered as a renewal premium?
Sorry to interrupt. Sir, the line for the management has been dropped. Please stay connected while we reconnect the line for the management. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the line for the management reconnected. Yes, sir, please go ahead.
Should I repeat the question, sir?
Yes, sir, please.
Yeah. So on the renewal business, you mentioned that we are attaching riders. So since the policy, the premium which will be coming on the rider will be classified as a renewal premium and or a new business premium, and how are we accounting for the new business margins on that?
The rider is a new product, so all rider is a new product. Any new rider sold in a particular year will be classified as a new premium.
The impact on margin is not material.
Okay. Okay, sir. Thanks. Thanks. This is from my side. Yeah. All the best.
Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Dipanjan Ghosh from Citi. Please go ahead.
Hi, hope I'm audible?
Yeah, yeah, Dipanjan, go ahead.
Yeah. Just a few questions from my side. First, you know, when I look at your segment by margin, it seems that the unit margin, you know, are probably somewhat close to your company level margin, maybe a few percentage points lower, maybe due to, you know, some effort that you might have taken on rider or the higher commission. So just in terms of, you know, understanding the prospects of the unit margin for the next two to three years, how much more scope do you really see, in this segment?
The second question, is on the, on the non-SBI banca part, you mentioned the growth data. I just wanted to get some color on the product mix in this channel, and how that has participated in, the last few quarters of the year. Third question was, I don't know if I missed it, but could you spell out the, like, APE for this quarter?
Sorry. So on this margin, we don't disclose it. No, we don't disclose the margins of different line of business, but each and every time, we look into the company VNB and margin is a by-product for that. And we do see opportunity in improvement, because each and every time when we revisit our products now offering, we try to optimize the value and not only for the margin term of the shareholder, but also for the better return to the customer. In that process, there will always be scope for improving the margin from the current level for each product within the things, and that will ultimately help to improve the margin for the company level. We are not going to be specific to the particular product margin.
Hi, Pankaj, you are there?
Sir, on the credit life APE, on the credit life APE and the, and the non-SBI bank
Pankaj, we are not able to hear you properly.
Sir, there is a lot of background noise coming from your line.
Is it better? Am I audible now?
A little better. Yeah.
Yes, I just wanted to ask on the credit life APE for the third quarter and also the non-SBI bancassurance product mix, and how that has evolved.
Credit Life APE is roughly INR 75 crore in quarter three. For the non-SBI partnership, roughly it is 20% unit, remaining non-unit. Roughly split 50/50 between par and non-par, about 5%-6% protection. Roughly that is the mix.
Got it. Got it. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Megha Bagaria from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.
Yeah, sure. So I wanted to check why is the par product growing so much, like in the recent quarter, or we see that par has grown more than non-par, which shouldn't be the case given the current yield for it. So can you throw some light on that?
So just as we explained earlier, as in, we have launched in our product portfolio, we are mixing up the specific, particular, specific product in the Par segment, particularly in the child segment and the money back, that we have launched. So while child child product help to meet the customer requirement to protect their children, the money back also provides the liquidity to the policyholder, because the payment is done on the regular interval. And this is most awaited products to launch. And that's the reason we see a lot of traction and things, and that's the reason we see that growth is happening in the Par. But if you look in the totality, Par is still much lower than what we expected to be.
Par is 10-15% roughly of our business.
We are looking to be approximately 15%-20% in the par, because that will also help us to give the better return for the existing customer as well. And in the last few years, we have declared, increased the bonus, which are higher than what we illustrated, and they're also giving traction to the customer in terms of buying these par products.
Got it. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Amit Jhingran for closing comments.
Thank you everyone for your time and query. You may get in touch with our Investor Relations team in case you have any follow-up questions. Thank you. God bless everyone.
Thank you, members of the management. On behalf of SBI Life Insurance Company Limited, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.