The Hindu Business Line : Metlife infuses Rs 350 cr to fund growth plans

Bangalore, Feb. 20 Metlife India Insurance Company Ltd expanded its paid-up equity by Rs 350 crore to Rs 1,230 crore to support its growth for the next financial year.

Speaking to reporters here today, the Metlife India Managing Director, Mr Rajesh Relan, however, said, “We don’t have any plans to expand our equity partners for the moment.”

Metlife International Holdings Inc holds 26 per cent stake in the domestic venture. The remaining stake is held by Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Pallonji & Company Private Ltd and a clutch of private equity investors.

He said that Metlife had entered into a long-term partnership arrangement with Axis Bank. “There is no proposal for an equity stake for Axis Bank,” he added. Besides Axis Bank, Metlife has bancassurance arrangements with J&K Bank, Karnataka Bank Ltd, Dhanalakshmi Bank and Barclays Bank Ltd.

Performance

Referring to the company’s performance, Mr Relan said: “We expect to cross Rs 1,000 crore in gross written premium in the current year.” For the calendar year 2007, Metlife had earned a gross premia of Rs 586.3 crore.

He said that bancassurance contributed about 53 per cent of the premium accretions during the period.

He said 93 per cent of the collections were from unit-linked insurance policies (ULIP). He said that despite the downturn in the equity markets, there was little migration between the ULIPs.

In calendar 2007, Metlife expanded its network to 111 branches in 66 cities. The agency force was raised to 30,000 financial advisors from 8,500 in 2006.

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