BT Online Last Updated: November 23, 2017 | 11:11 IST
Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is likely to list its general insurance arm SBI General Insurance in 18 to 24 months.
The bank may raise Rs 2,500 crore by selling 20 percent in SBI General Insurance, The Economic Times (ET) reported.
Pushan Mahapatra, MD of SBI General Insurance said the listing would help to meet capital requirements as the insurer was growing at a fast pace.
The listing will help shareholders monetise their investment and lead to better disclosures, improvement in governance and performance.
SBI General clocked a profit of Rs 301 crore in the first half of the financial year with a one-time gain of Rs 170 crore from an earlier reinsurance agreement. The company reported a profit of Rs 132 crore as against Rs 5.6 crore in the same period last year on a standalone basis.
Its gross written premium rose by 27% to Rs2,607 crore in 2016-17, as compared to Rs2,041 crore in the previous fiscal.
SBI General Insurance is a joint venture with Insurance Australia Group (IAG) and the state-run lender.
SBI owns 70.1% in the insurer, Cardif - 26%, and KKR and Temasek the remaining stake.
In October, SBI's life insurance arm made its debut on BSE and NSE. The stock opened on the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs 733.30, a premium of 4.75 per cent over its issue price of Rs 700.
SBI Life's initial share sale offer opened on September 20 and closed on September 22. This was the second listing of a life insurer after ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, which went public last year.
