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Motor drags down overall growth in June

The weakness in the motor business (up 6% yoy) dragged down overall GWP growth (up 9% yoy) for the industry in June 2024. Competitive intensity in the motor OD segment is likely settling down, leading to faster growth for large players such as ICICI Lombard. Retail health growth was strong in June 2024 (up 16% yoy) and 1QFY25 (up 19% yoy). Star Health lost its share to other SAHIs.

Motor drags down overall industry growth; health fares better

Industry GWP growth (ex-crop) was muted in June 2024 at 9% yoy, driven by a weak 6% yoy growth in the motor business. The health business fared better, reporting 15% yoy growth, driven by 16% yoy growth in retail and 23% yoy growth in the group business. The fire business was also weak, reporting an 8% yoy decline in premiums. While growth was moderate at 9% yoy for private GIs, SAHIs reported a strong 22% yoy growth in June 2024.

During the quarter (1QFY25), growth was moderate for the industry at 14% yoy (ex-crop). While motor growth was moderate at 12% yoy, retail health fared better, reporting 19% yoy growth in 1QFY25. Group health growth was also strong at 20% yoy during the quarter. Private GIs grew 16% yoy, in line with industry; SAHIs were up 25% yoy.

ICICI Lombard gains share in motor business

While motor OD growth for the industry has been moderate at 15% yoy in 1QFY25, entrenched players such as HDFC ERGO and ICICI Lombard reported strong 31-42% yoy growth. This is likely driven by a moderation in competitive intensity in the business. Similarly, motor TP growth was weak at 10% for the industry; however, ICICI Lombard fared better, reporting 22% yoy growth in 1QFY25. This resulted in a sharp rise in the market share of ICICI Lombard to 13.4% in motor OD (11.7% in 1QFY24) and 9.4% in motor TP (8.5% in 1QFY24).

Star loses market share in retail health

Star Health reported 11% growth in June, translating to 15% yoy growth in retail health in 1QFY25, lower than industry growth of 19%. This resulted in a 100 bps yoy decline in market share to 30.9% for Star Health. Smaller players such as Care/Niva Bupa reported 32%/45% yoy growth and gained 100/180 bps market share yoy to 9.9%/10.7%. Faster growth in group health (up 64% yoy) led to 18% growth in health premiums for Star Health in 1QFY25 (16% for industry).

GI players continue to lag SAHIs in retail health

GI players continue to lag SAHIs (up 24%) in retail health, reporting 13% yoy growth in 1QFY25. HDFC ERGO and New India Assurance are the largest GIs in the segment, with 8.9% and 7.4% market share. They reported 17-18% yoy growth. ICICI Lombard’s market share remains low at 2.9% in the retail health segment. Group health is dominated by GIs, with an 86.5% market share in 1QFY25.

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