New Delhi: Private insurer Bharti AXA Life Insurance said on Tuesday it turned profitable by posting maiden profit of Rs5 crore for the fiscal ended 31 March 2018.
This is the first time Bharti AXA Life Insurance reported profits since it started operations in 2006, on the back of better productivity and cost efficiency, the insurer said in a statement. The company, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and global insurance major AXA, registered a profit of against a loss of Rs120 crore during 2016-17, it said.
“We have brought down our operating expense ratio. Cost efficiency, high renewal premiums, better product mix and productivity and higher persistency helped the company record profits,” said Bharti AXA Life Insurance managing director Vikas Seth.
The company has registered 20% increase in its new business premium at Rs730 crore in 2017-18 against Rs608 crore over the corresponding fiscal a year ago. It recorded 21% growth in its renewal premium to Rs954 crore in the year ended 31 March 2018, as compared to Rs788 crore during 2016-17.
The total premium grew by 21% to Rs1,684 crore during 2017-18, as compared to Rs1,397 crore in the same period a year earlier. Seth said, going forward, the focus would be on growth, including that from non-traditional channels, robust profitability and operational efficiency coupled with customer-friendly and congenial ways of accessing insurance.