New Delhi, Oct. 1 First year premium income of life insurance companies rose 44.2 per cent on year in August, on account of a sharp increase in the income of state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India.

According to data compiled by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, first year life insurance premium rose to Rs 9,044 crore in August from Rs 6,274 crore a year ago. First year premium income, an indicator of new business generated by insurance companies, was Rs 7,540 crore in July. LIC’s first year premium income rose 83.7 per cent on year in August to Rs 6,545 crore . LIC had a market share of 72.4 per cent in first year premium income in August, compared with 56.8 per cent a year ago and 69.5 per cent in July.
Private players

The 21 private life insurance companies together had a first year premium income of Rs 2,499 crore in August, down 7.8 per cent on year. Among private players, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd’s first year premium income fell 16.4 per cent on year in August to Rs 525 crore, while that of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd declined 25.7 per cent to Rs 290 crore. SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd’s income remained flat at Rs 306 crore . ICICI Prudential had a market share of 5.8 per cent in first year premium income in August, followed by SBI Life and Bajaj Allianz with 3.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.

Market shares of ICICI Prudential, SBI Life, and Bajan Allianz a year ago were 10.0 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively. In August, LIC sold 2.74 million polices, compared with 1.09 million policies sold by private companies. During April-August total first year premium income rose 17.4 per cent to Rs 31,041 crore. LIC’s first year premium income in April-August rose 44.9 per cent on year to Rs 20,811 crore, while that of private companies declined 15.4 per cent to Rs 10,230 crore. — © NewsWire18 Pvt. Ltd. 2009

Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/10/02/stories/2009100250940600.htm