State-owned re-insurer General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) posted a sharp 63.8 per cent drop in its net profit to ₹513.84 crore for the second quarter of the fiscal due to higher underwriting losses.

Its net profit stood at ₹1,419.11 crore as on September 30, 2017, and it had also reported a 98 per cent rise in net profit for the first quarter of the fiscal at ₹771.42 crore.

GIC Re has also reported a near 29 per cent drop in net profit to ₹1,285.27 crore for the first half of the financial year 2018-19 as against a net profit of ₹1,809.22 crore a year ago.

The re-insurer’s underwriting losses amounted to ₹2,264.88 crore for the July-September quarter of this fiscal, as compared with a profit of ₹703.74 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Its underwriting losses saw a sharp increase across almost all segments including motor, aviation, engineering, health and marine cargo.

However, its gross premiums written rose 15.5 per cent to ₹8,325.95 crore for the quarter ended September 30, as against ₹7,209.61 crore for the same period of 2017-18.

Total income rises

During the reporting quarter, its total income rose to ₹12,879.90 crore from ₹10,714.69 crore a year ago. “Other income includes forex gain of ₹164.87 crore for the half year ended September 30, 2018,” GIC said.

It had a solvency ratio of 1.73 at the end of the reporting quarter, which is in line with 1.72 a year ago. It is also well above the minimum required solvency ratio of 1.5 times.

The re-insurer’s shares fell 1.55 per cent and closed at ₹320.20 apiece on the BSE.

 

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