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Both public and private life insurers paid a total dividend of ₹4,442 crore in 2018-19 when compared to ₹4,192 crore in 2017-18. This is the highest dividend amount paid by insurers in the past five years. The previous highest amount paid was ₹4,364 crore in 2015-16.
Top player LIC paid/proposed ₹2,660.60 crore as dividend to the shareholder, the government of India. It paid a dividend of ₹2421.82 crore in 2017-18. Seven private insurers, such as HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential, Max Life, SBI Life, Bajaj Allianz, Shriram Life and SUD (Star Union Dai-ichi) Life, proposed dividends in 2018-19. In the previous fiscal, five private players proposed/paid dividends, according to the latest annual report of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
ICICI Prudential Life, a leading Indian private life insurer with an APE (annual premium equivalent) market share of 18 per cent (FY19), proposed/paid a dividend of ₹703 crore (₹990 crore in FY18), while HDFC Life’s dividend for FY19 was ₹329 crore (₹273 crore). Max Life, SBI Life and Bajaj Allianz paid/proposed ₹397 crore (₹286 crore), ₹200 crore (₹200 crore) and ₹105.5 crore.
Shriram Life and SUD Life proposed dividends of ₹18 crore (₹20 crore) and ₹5 crore. But none of the four public sector general insurance companies paid dividends during FY19. Private general insurers paid a dividend of ₹618 crore (₹625 crore in 2017-18), and specialised insurers paid ₹30 crore in FY19.
GIC Re paid ₹1,184 crore in FY19 when compared to ₹1,002 crore in FY18. In 2017-18, only New India Assurance paid a dividend of ₹309 crore in the public sector category.
Profit and loss
In FY19, the life insurance industry reported a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹8,436 crore when compared to a profit of ₹8,512 crore in 2017-18. Of the 24 life insurers, 20 companies reported profits in 2018-19. LIC reported a profit of about ₹2,689 crore in FY19 (₹2,446 crore in FY18), while the private insurers reported PAT of ₹5,747 crore (₹6,064 crore). In FY19, the total PAT of general insurance industry stood at ₹683 crore against ₹6,909 crore in FY18. Public sector companies reported a loss after tax of ₹3,288 crore in FY19 against a profit after tax of ₹2,543 crore in FY18. Private insurers reported a PAT of ₹3,584 crore when compared to a PAT of ₹3,798 crore in FY18.
Specialised insurers’ PAT was ₹685 crore (₹670 crore), while standalone health insurance companies incurred a loss of ₹298 crore against a loss of ₹102 crore in FY18. Of the four public sector general insurers, only New India reported a PAT of ₹580 crore, while National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance reported losses of ₹1,696 crore, ₹294 crore and ₹1,878 crore.
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