ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited (NSE: ICICIGI) Q4 2026 Earnings Call dated Apr. 15, 2026
Corporate Participants:
Sanjeev Mantri — Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Gopal Balachandran — Chief Financial Officer
Analysts:
Supratim Datta — Analyst
Prayesh Jain — Analyst
Sanketh Godha — Analyst
Nidhesh Jain — Analyst
Avinash Singh — Analyst
Nischint Chawathe — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, and a very warm welcome to the ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited’s Q4 and FY 2026 Earnings Conference Call.
From the senior management, we have with us today, Mr. Sanjeev Mantri, MD and CEO of the company; Mr. Gopal Balachandran, CFO; Mr. Anand Singhi, Chief Retail and Government; Mr. Girish Nayak, Chief Enterprise, AI and Technology; Mr. Sandeep Goradia, Chief Corporate Solutions, International and Bancassurance; Mr. Gaurav Arora, Chief Commercial Lines and Motor Underwriting and Claims, and Mr. Girish Sehgal, Chief Health UW and Claims, Customer Service and Operations.
Please note that any statements or comments made in today’s call that may look like forward-looking statements are based on information presently available to the management and do not constitute an indication of any future performance. as the future involves risks and uncertainties, which could cause results to differ materially from current views being expressed. [Operator Instructions] And there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. [Operator Instructions]
I now hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjeev Mantri, MD and CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Sanjeev Mantri — Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you. Good evening to each one of you. Thank you for joining the earnings conference call of ICICI Lombard for quarter four and financial year 2026. I would like to commence with an overview of the economic and industry trends, which have shaped the operating environment over the past few months, coupled with insights on our company’s performance and our key initiatives. Following that, our CFO, Gopal Balachandran, will take you through the company’s financial performance for quarter four and financial year 2026.
The quarter gone by has been an eventful one. For the first two months, the Indian economy exhibited continued momentum of growth from the previous quarter, whereas the month of March 2026 has been unprecedented in terms of the geopolitical challenges. The ongoing conflict in West Asia has heightened global economic uncertainty leading to volatility in energy prices and financial markets. These external risks could have some spillover effects on the Indian economy, warranting a measured and watchful approach.
That being said, India’s macroeconomic fundamentals today are considerably strong and more resilient than in previous periods of global stress. This provides a degree of comfort in our ability to absorb external shocks, although we remain mindful of evolving global conditions. Let me now dwell upon the ensuing quarter and the year gone by.
Retail sales for private cars, two-wheelers and tractors remain positive for the year. In accordance with the data reported by Vahan for financial year 2026, the sales growth of private car and two-wheeler stood at healthy 11.9% and 13.2%, respectively. Pertinently, for H2 2026, the sales growth of private car and two-wheelers stood at 17.8% and 21.5% as against 4.6% and 3.2%, respectively, in H1 2026, led by GST rationalization. This continued momentum is also seen in quarter four, 2026, wherein the growth of private car and two-wheeler stood at a healthy 16.3% and 24.7%, respectively. Also noteworthy was the fact that two-wheeler sales suppressed — surpassed their pre-COVID peak and where it a decade high.
Even the sales of commercial vehicle, this is the data reported by Vahan have witnessed a growth of 20.2% in H2 2026 versus 4.9% for H1 2026 and a full year growth of 12.9%. Given the early trends of numbers reported by certain banks, credit growth is expected to be in double digit for quarter four 2026, with broad-based expansion across segments. Also, vehicle financing continued to be an important contributor to credit growth, broadly in line with the trends observed in retail automobile sales. We believe that the factors augment well for the industry in time to come.
Moving to the regulatory update. You may be aware that IRDAI has mandated insurers to prepare and present the financial statements in accordance with the applicable Ind AS effective first April ’26. We view this as a positive step as the enhanced disclosure requirements under Ind AS framework will meaningfully improve transparency and align the reporting standards of Indian insurers with global practices. While the regulator requires insurers to provide the reporting as per both Ind AS and Indian GAAP for 2027 and 2028, it has provided the insurer the option of seeking forbearance through transitioning the statutory accounting to Ind AS for the first year. We have examined the option provided by the authority and we believe it would be appropriate to seek the forbearance in order to ensure that the transition is executed in a calibrated and operationally robust manner.
Another important initiative announced by the authority is the Public Insurance Registry, which is expected to become a key pillar of India’s digital public infrastructure. As the framework evolves, PIR has the potential to support industry growth by improving penetration, driving efficiencies, elevating customer service and also enabling better risk selection across ecosystem. We believe that over time, it will also enhance transparency, strengthen trust and create enduring benefit for the policyholder, insurers and the broader financial system.
Let me now dwell upon the industry performance for the year ended March 31, 2026. The general insurance industry reported a GDPI growth of 9.2% for 2026. Excluding Crop and Mass Health segments, the gross GDPI growth stood at 13.3% for 2026.
Speaking of the specific segments within the industry. The Commercial segment reported a growth of 12.2% for 2026. However, if one was to break down this growth into H1 and H2, the growth was 14.2% and 9.6%, respectively. As one observes, the business witnessed a limited level of competitive intensity and pricing pressure, especially in the Fire segment in the second half of the year, leading to muted growth. The renewals for April 1, 2026, also are being reported as a discount to the previous year, reflecting that this trend is likely to continue for quarter one, 2027 as well. On the positive side, however, we also would like to mention that the reinsurance renewals for financial year 2027 have been soft.
The Motor segment, growth for the industry stood at 9.2% for financial year 2026. With the momentum experienced post the GST rationalization, the second half of the year has witnessed improved growth levels of 10.5% vis-a-vis the first half, which stood at 7.6%.
The Health segment, including Mass Health, grew by 15.4% for 2026, which makes it the fastest-growing segment for last five years from financial year 2022 to 2026. Within this, the Group Health line of business grew at 12.8% for 2026, whereas the Retail Health growth stood at 19.9% for 2026.
Speaking on the underwriting performance of the industry. Overall, the combined ratio of the industry deteriorated from 113.2% in nine months financial year 2025 to 119.3% in nine months 2026. The overall combined ratio for private players remained relatively flattish from 111.2% for the period nine month 2025 to 111.5% for the period nine months 2026. Due to pricing pressure, combined ratio for the motor line of business continued to remain elevated at 128.1% for nine months 2026 vis-a-vis 123.8% for the period ended nine months 2025.
I will now proceed to present our company’s performance across key business segments for 2026. The company reported a growth of 7% in gross domestic premium income for 2026 compared to the industry growth of 9.2% for the same period. ICICI Lombard achieved a growth of 18.2% and 15.7% in quarter four and H2 2026, respectively, against an industry growth of 10.9% and 11.2% over the same period. However, excluding the Crop and Mass Health segment, the company recorded a growth of 10.2% and for financial year 2026, while the industry view at 13.3% for the same period.
In the Commercial lines segment, our growth stood at 5.4% for financial year 2026 as against compared to industry growth of 12.2% for 2026. During H1 2026, our growth in Commercial lines stood at 6.5% versus industry growth of 14.2%, whilst for H2 2026, the growth level stood at 3.8% versus industry growth of 9.6%. Amidst competitive pressure, we continue to drive profitable growth through prudent underwriting and judicious risk selection through our multichannel distribution. We continue to maintain leadership position in liability and Marine Cargo line of business for financial year 2026.
In Motor segment, our growth stood at 7.6% for financial year 2026 as against the industry growth of 9.2% for the same period. In H1 of 2026, we grew at 2.2% in the Motor segment versus the industry growth, which grew at 7.6%. However, H2 of 2026, we accelerated the growth level of industry by 1.5% in Motor, that is 12% vis-a-vis the industry growth of 10.5%. This momentum was evident in quarter four of financial year 2026, where we achieved a growth of 15% vis-a-vis the industry grew at 10%. Our portfolio mix for private cars, two-wheelers and combined — and commercial vehicles stood at 52.8%, 25.4% and 21.8%, respectively, for financial year 2026.
In the Health segment for 2026, we grew by 20% as against the industry growth of 15.4% on a 1/n basis. For quarter four, 2026 the growth stood at a robust 38.2% as against the industry growth of 20.5%. Our retail sales business continued to demonstrate strong growth of 51.1% for 2026, significantly outpacing the industry growth of 19.9% in the same period.
Consequently, our market share has improved from 3.3% in financial year 2025 to 4.1% in financial year 2026. For the year, the company has seen a 2x growth in the new retail health indemnity business sourced compared to the previous year. Our share of long-term premium in new business for retail health stands at 42.1% for financial year 2026, up from 28.5% for financial year 2025. This performance has been driven by ongoing product innovation and sustained investment in strengthening our real health distribution franchise or retail health distribution franchise.
For the overall Group Health portfolio, we continue to maintain a disciplined approach with a focus on managing the book effectively. The Group Health segment recorded a growth of 11% for financial year 2026 over 2025, with our market share being 8.7% for financial year 2026.
We have kept a focus on augmenting cash flows through underlying long-term business in various lines of business. Our advanced premium in motor insurance has increased by over 15% in financial year 2026 vis-a-vis financial year 2025. Our market share in advanced premium, excluding motor share stands at 12.5% for financial year 2026, up from 9.6% from financial year 2025.
Our disciplined focus on profitable growth has helped us deliver consistent outcome over time. With market fluctuations may impact performance in individual quarters, our track record reflects our ability to navigate cycles and deliver value over the long term. If we analyze the 10-year time horizon from financial year 2016 to 2025, it is pertinent to note that the company’s average combined ratio stood at 102.9%, reflecting sustained underwriting discipline across various market conditions. This would compare favorability with the industry average of 115.3% over the same period.
Furthermore, our investment performance has also remained strong. Over the same 10-year horizon, we delivered a robust average realized yield of 8.7%, supported by prudent asset allocation and effective capital management over multiple cycles. This in turn has translated into an healthy average return on equity of 19.1% over the 10-year period, which would compare favorably against the industry average ROE of 4%, reinforcing the strength and resilience of our overall business model and consistency of our execution.
Our One IL, One Team philosophy continues to foster collaboration and operational excellence enabling a unified approach across the organization. As a part of this philosophy, I will now apprise you of certain key initiatives.
First, I would like to highlight our strategic capability we have built in-house, one that materially strengthens our execution engine, we call it IL OneForce. IL OneForce is an enterprise productivity platform, which has been in operation for over a year and is used by over 10,000 sales employees. It is on track to become the single operating platform for all our 15,000 employees across the organization. IL OneForce integrates work execution, performance management, collaboration and recognition into a single platform, simplifying operations, reinforcing execution, discipline and driving accountability with real-time enterprise-wide visibility.
The platform enables structured partner engagement, task management and real-time performance analytics across the partner life cycle. Its renewal capability has improved conversion by 5% while enhanced engagement has doubled partner participation and expanded market reach. Notably, in health indemnity, improved engagement led to a 2x increase in agent activation and a doubling of new retail business.
Our IL TakeCare app, a one-stop solution for insurance and wellness needs, achieved 21 million downloads as of 31st March 2026, reflecting the growing customer engagement and digital adoption. The GWP earned from the IL TakeCare app during the period 2026 was INR5,170 million vis-a-vis the corresponding premium earning for 2025, which stood at INR2,237.2 million. From a claim intimation perspective, 67% of the customers now intimate their health reimbursement claims through the app, while 82% of the claim intimation of a travel product, TripSecure+ went through IL TakeCare app.
We’ll continue to focus on improving the service experience of our customers with a single simplified interface for their insurance requirements. We continue to improve our efficiency level in motor claims, too. Our preferred partner network serviced 75.5% of our non-OEM claims for quarter four, 2026 respectively, up from 74.1% for quarter four, 2025. For nine months, we recorded an NPS of 69 for motor claims.
In the Retail segment, 98.8% of our total claims were paid within 30 days for financial year 2026. For the nine months 2026, on an account basis, the number stood at 99.9% with the corresponding number for the industry being at 82.1%. For nine month 2026, we recorded an NPS of 73 for health claims, demonstrating strong satisfaction level and reinforcing our position as a customer-centric organization.
IL Sahayak has further strengthened our ongoing team support for our health customers and our customer coverage improving by 25% over the previous year.
As a part of their feedback, 95% of our customer survey rated their experience as exemplary highlighting the support provided during claims processing and assistance with hospital coordination. This reaffirms our focus on best-in-class service to our customers during the moment that truly matters.
The One IL One Call Centre initiative continues to deliver strong momentum in the company’s transition towards a digital-first do-it-yourself service model. In March 2026, more than 5 lakh service engagements, 69% of the total service engagements were executed digitally. Our differentiated service initiatives, which we have spoken about in previous earnings calls, have resulted in increase of our call center NPS to 74% in quarter four, 2026 from 60% in quarter one, 2026.
Before I close, the current year marks an important milestone in the journey of ICICI Lombard as we enter into our 25th year of operation. We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our stakeholders who have been — who have truly supported us in our journey so far, and we look forward to your continued trust, encouragement and support in the years ahead.
I will now request Gopal to take you through the financial numbers for quarter four and financial year 2026.
Gopal Balachandran — Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Sanjeev, and good evening to each one of you. I will now give you a brief overview of the financial performance of the recently concluded quarter and the full financial year. We have uploaded the results presentation on our website. You can access it as we walk you through the performance numbers. With effect from October 1, 2024, long-term products are accounted on a 1/n basis as mandated by the regulator IRDAI.
Please refer our investor presentation slide number 16 for the further details on comparison of financials on an n and 1/n basis. It may be noted that all the numbers that I’ll be speaking about are on a 1/n basis, unless otherwise mentioned.
On combined ratio, our combined ratio on an n basis for FY ’26 was 102.4%, as against 102.6% in FY ’25.
Our combined ratio on a 1/n basis for the current year was 103.4%, as against 102.8% in FY ’25. Excluding the impact of Wage Code of INR0.55 billion, the combined ratio for FY ’26 stood at 102.1% and 103.1% on n basis and 1/n basis respectively.
Our combined ratio on an n basis for quarter four was 100.5%, as against 102.1% in quarter four of FY ’25. Our combined ratio on a 1/n basis for quarter four current year was 101.2%, as against 102.5% in quarter four of last year.
On the investments, our investment assets during the quarter rose to INR584.21 billion as at March 31, 2026, up from INR582.96 billion as at December 31, 2025. Our investment leverage net of borrowings was at 3.48 times at March 31, 2026, and at 3.6 times as at December 31, 2025.
Investment income was at INR47.42 billion in FY ’26, as against INR42.5 billion in FY ’25. On a quarterly basis, investment income was at INR9.85 billion in Q4 this year, as against INR8.77 billion in Q4 last year. During the quarter under review, the Company has recognized we have a policy on impairment of investment assets. Basis that, the Company has recognized an impairment on its equity portfolio, investments of INR0.49 billion in this quarter for FY ’26, versus a small write back that we had of almost about INR3 crores, that we had in quarter four of the last financial year, driven by the prevailing market correction.
Now coming to profitability. Our profit before tax grew by 10.2% to INR36.59 billion in FY ’26, as against INR33.21 billion in FY ’25. Excluding the impact of the Wage Code that I referred earlier of INR0.55 billion, the PBT grew by 11.8% to INR37.14 billion in FY ’26.
Our PBT grew by 7.5% to INR7.18 billion in Q4 FY ’26, as against INR6.68 billion in Q4 FY ’25. On the profit after tax, therefore, consequently, on a 1/n basis, the PAT grew by 10.5% to INR27.72 billion in FY ’26, as against INR25.08 billion in FY ’25. Again, excluding the impact of the Wage Code, the PAT on a 1/n basis grew by 12.2% to INR28.14 billion in FY ’26.
On n basis, PAT grew by 14.1% to INR27.61 billion in FY ’26, as against INR24.19 billion in FY ’25. On a n basis, excluding the impact of the Wage Code, the PAT grew by 15.9% to INR28.03 billion in FY ’26.
Our PAT on a 1/n basis grew by 7.3% to INR5.47 billion in Q4 this year, as against INR5.1 billion in Q4 last year. Same numbers on an n basis, PAT grew by 15.6% to INR5.39 billion in Q4 FY ’26, as against INR4.66 billion in Q4 FY ’25.
Coming to return on average equity, our ROE was 17.8% in FY ’26 as against 19.1% in FY ’25. Excluding the impact of wage code of INR0.55 billion, the ROE stood at 18.1% for FY ’26. ROE for quarter four current year was at 13.3%, as against 14.5% in Q4 FY ’25.
Coming to dividend, the Board of Directors of the Company has proposed a final dividend of INR7 per share for FY ’26. This payment is, however, subject to approval of shareholders in the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the Company.
The overall dividend for FY ’26, including the above proposed final dividend, is INR13.5 per share. Last year, the overall dividend was INR12.5 per share.
On solvency, we continue to exhibit a very healthy solvency ratio of 2.67 times at March 31st, 2026, as against 2.69 at December 31, 2025, which continues to be higher than the minimum regulatory requirement. The solvency, of course, was impacted by roughly about 14 basis points as an outcome of the mark-to-market loss position that we had on the equity book as at March 31, 2026.
As I conclude, I would like to state that we are aligned with our ethos of driving profitable growth, consistent and sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders, while ensuring that the interest of policyholders are at the forefront at all times.
I would like to thank you all for attending this earnings call, and we will now be happy to take questions that you may have. Thank you.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Supratim Datta from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Supratim Datta
Hello. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. My first question is on the competitive environment in the industry. There have been articles recently indicating that competition in the commercial lines have been fairly elevated. You indicated that on the motor lines, combined ratio remains elevated. So if you could give us an idea about how competitive environment in the different segments is panning out, that would be helpful. And is there any improvement due to now the EOM guidelines kicking in? So that’s my first question.
The second question, coming to the loss ratio side, this year’s fourth quarter motor TP loss ratio has been significantly lower than what we have seen in the last years in fourth quarter motor TP loss ratio.
So just wanted to understand what has played out for this significant improvement versus the run rate that we have seen previously, and why is the loss ratio negative? If you could give some color on that.
Lastly, on IFRS, Gopal, would it be possible for you to give us some understanding or clarity regarding how your PAT under IFRS would look versus the GAAP PAT? That would be very helpful. Thank you.
Sanjeev Mantri
You take the second one first.
Gopal Balachandran
Maybe I can take the second and the third, and then maybe I can — maybe Sanjeev can respond the first one. I think on the loss ratio, Supratim, I think this obviously comes to us every quarter, and I think our response will still remain the same as in to say that, one, you have to keep looking at motor as a category as compared to one looking at separately motor own damage and third party. That’s one.
Second, I think we would continue to, again, request all of you to keep looking at numbers more on a full year basis as compared to, let’s say, any given quarter. And just to kind of refresh what we have been telling the street is, I think the range that we are comfortable on motor is between 65% to 67%. I think that is the range that we have maintained. And if you’d have seen for the full year, current year, I think we ended at roughly about 66.3%.
It’s well within that range. And hence, to that extent, I think that’s the range that we would be kind of tracking pretty closely. So in that sense, there is nothing that has kind of changed. If you ask us, has any of our reserving philosophy undergone a change? The short answer is no. And we continue to kind of maintain prudence in terms of maintaining our loss reserves.
So hence, I think we have to keep looking at numbers more on a full year basis as compared to any given quarters. So that’s one.
Crop, I think again, time and again, we have kind of talked about it because generally, again, just to kind of refresh, most of the businesses in crop get booked around quarter two and somewhere around quarter three and maybe early quarter four, because those are typically the two seasons that largely get exhibited. In our case, we had predominantly a large exposure on crop, largely from one state, of which a large part of our premium was something that had got booked roughly around quarter two of the year. And as we have said, it obviously takes time for the season to kind of play out in terms of actual loss experiences.
And in any quarter, when you see that experience play out, then to that extent, obviously — and if you recollect, even at the time of booking the policies, we obviously follow a very, very conservative approach of providing for almost 100% loss ratio at the time of writing the risk. And as the actual experiences play out, obviously to that extent, in case if we see some kind of a positive change, then to that extent, that gets reflected again in the given quarter and hence to that extent is why possibly you are seeing that number in line with the loss ratio outcomes for quarter four.
Here again, I would continue to urge that you should again look at the numbers more on a full year basis. On a full year basis is pretty much kind of range bound whether you look at FY ’25 or whether you look at FY ’26.
On Ind AS, I think in line with what we are also put out as a part of the opening transcript, at this point of time, given the state at which — so one, if you ask us, now there is a definitive date insofar as transitioning to Ind AS is concerned. Hence, that’s a very, very welcome step insofar as the overall industry is concerned. I think that’s what, rightfully so, the regulator has done it.
In terms of our own transition, I think we do have — we have been working on a plan of action in terms of getting our processes internally up and ready so that we are able to kind of start reporting numbers to all of you whenever we are kind of ready for it. At this point of time, I think we will continue to kind of give in line with what we have done even in the past. We have been submitting proforma number for the last two years. So we will continue even for ’26, ’27 on a quarterly basis in line with the requirements. We will continue to submit Ind AS-based results to the regulator. And maybe we will come back to all of you at an appropriate time, and then we will possibly start talking about more specifics in terms of the impact that it does on both the combined ratios and maybe the return on equity objectives, because those are the two things that the market obviously kind of wants to hear from us. So we will come back on that.
And maybe on the first point, Sanjeev.
Sanjeev Mantri
Also, just to close out the IFRS part and we have always said in the past also that the year of adoption, there would be a significant decline in combined ratio. It can be in the range of 300 basis to maybe 400, 450 basis points. But look, that’s only the accounting part of it. The economic value over a period of time, it is expected to converge and have the same value creation for the Company as it happens. So our stance pretty much remains same. And yes, from next quarter one, we would end up doing our submissions on that count.
With respect to — Supratim on the competitive pressure that is there, and we spoke about that also when we were giving the overall briefing for the year that has gone by. Yes, it has intensified on commercial line of business.
At the same time, the capacity overall on the reinsurance side was very high available, and we’ve been able to see to some extent it getting negated. Will this continue? My own belief is market forces will play out, but our own understanding is when we see intensive competition, the selection has to get sharper because — will we compete in the market? Answer is yes. But what we’ve been able to write and what we will write, we will be creating differentiation.
If you remember last year, even in — over quarters we had said that there was a marginal loss of market share for us on the fire side. Purely was on account of the fact that we will do what is comfortable and the output is in some ways here to see.
These are all very exposure-driven products, and you have to be cautious of what you pick and what you don’t, and we continue to follow that. There is no overarching worry. We are very well-placed as an institution in terms of what practices we have to counter any such measures that come up in the market.
And overall insurance, general insurance in particular, has seen these kind of conduct at multiple levels, and we are well-placed about it.
On motor also, in a similar vein, yes, the industry is being stressed at multiple counts. The combined ratio, which I just spoke about for the nine months, stayed at 128%, clearly not a workable one. We continue to pick and choose and deliver a result which is differentiated from the market. It’s purely led by, on multiple count, distribution and underwriting practices which differentiates in own damage as well as third party, which briefly Gopal spoke about. Thank you.
Supratim Datta
Understood. That’s very clear. Thank you.
Sanjeev Mantri
Thank you.
Gopal Balachandran
Thanks, Supratim.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Prayesh Jain from Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead.
Prayesh Jain
Yeah. Hi, everyone. Two questions from my side. Firstly, if I just wanted to take a view on your solvency, which is like pretty high at 2.7, how do you think that you will — whether you — because you’ve been generating good profits over the past few years, and in fact, from FY ’22 to FY ’25, and even now the solvency has been increasing. So, how do you see whether you can utilize the solvency better in terms of paying out dividends or in any other form to kind of — because — and unless the growth is really exceptional, I am sure that we wouldn’t need that kind of excess solvency on the balance sheet. That’s question number one.
Second, Sanjeev, you’ve been talking about motor TP price hike, and we’ve discussed this in the last call — last few calls as well. But given the trajectory on the motor TP loss ratios at about 63.2% in FY ’25 and 63.8% this year for you, do you think that motor TP price hike can come in?
And my last question is on the health insurance front. Gopal, if you could split up the loss ratios for retail and group?
Sanjeev Mantri
Yeah.
Gopal Balachandran
Yeah. So maybe — so Prayesh first one, I think as a company, what we have always maintained is sufficient margins when it comes to solvency because the Indian market is still on Solvency I regulation. I think, of course, there is a roadmap to maybe eventually transition to risk-based capital, which again, as what the regulator has rightfully done on Ind AS, I’m sure they would possibly try and do a similar thing even on transition to risk-based capital as well. So obviously, one will have to wait and see how that plays out.
But till that point of time, I think the Indian market continues to be guided by Solvency I which, as I said, still mandates capital ask to be maintained basis the gross exposures that you have as an entity, and hence to that extent, we’ll have to be mindful of and prudent in terms of the levels of solvency that we carry as an institution.
Having said that, I think to your point on the last few years, I think fair observation, but if you see, I think last couple of years in specific, I think we have been relatively lower when it comes to growth. But that’s something that we have already seen a clear positive reversal of trends emerging for us.
And with the momentum that we have kind of seen, in all fairness, one would obviously want to kind of make sure that we are able to kind of get it extended even as we head into FY ’27. And the moment you will see as what you have seen, let’s say even in the second half of this year, growth kind of coming back, so to that extent, obviously one will look at consuming some part of the solvency that we have.
And three, our solvency is also guided by obviously a mix of what is it that we want to drive in terms of the growth objective and two, at the same time make sure that we are kind of appropriately kind of rewarding the investors who have kind of obviously placed faith in us. And in that context, I think if you would have seen historically, we do have a Board-governed dividend distribution policy in place.
On an average, I think what we have been able to kind of distribute is roughly about 25% of our PAT. And this year again, as what we had kind of put out in our opening transcript, roughly about INR13.5 per share for the full year roughly translates to almost about 25% of our profit after tax. So hence it obviously will be a continued combination of both rewarding the shareholders appropriately and at the same time making sure that we are able to use the capital for growth. And the third part, as I said, we will obviously keep a watch on the transition to risk-based capital. So that’s one.
To your point on the breakup for the health loss ratio numbers, I think, yeah, thankfully this time the question has come ahead of time, so maybe we’ll answer it. So I think Q4 of last year, right now I’ll give you the numbers for quarter four employer-employee book. Last year Q4, the loss ratio was 98%, and this year that number is almost the same at 98.1%.
On the retail indemnity book, the loss ratio for Q4 last year was 64.8%, and this year quarter four, the loss ratio on the indemnity book is at 57.6%. Now the same year numbers on a full-year basis, employer-employee book for last year has been at 97.2%, and this year full year, the employer-employee book loss ratio stands at about 91.9%. On the retail indemnity, full year last year was 67.9%. This year full year is at about 64.6%.
So just therefore to kind of sum it, again on the indemnity book, I think the range that we have spoken about is between 65% to 70% and that’s what we have been kind of largely talking through, even in the past several quarters.
And broadly if you see the experience that one has seen, the good part is I think, one, we have been able to build a book which is pretty much to our liking, and it has kind of played out both in terms of growth in market share and also staying within the loss ratio range. So those are the responses to the two questions. Maybe on the motor third party.
Sanjeev Mantri
So, yes, I think possibly it’s been almost five years now since the industry has got a hike. The loss ratio at the industry level as far as motor TP is concerned, is at around 85% and thereabouts, which is significantly elevated where we have been able to — if you see, and Gopal briefly spoke about it, we had to also reconfigure our portfolio to get aligned and drive the efficiency, which we’ve been able to reflect. It does at times lead to a loss and whenever we end up having discussions, whether individually or collectively, there’s so much of questioning as to why has the market share gone down, gone up. That is what it takes to reconfigure.
We’ve also recalibrated our practice in terms of ground surveillance and doing what is required to avoid fraud, which probably we would easily say is among the lowest in the industry. There is no way we can claim to eliminate it. So there are multiple factors that go about it. We remain desirous of the fact that, yes, the TP hike for the industry is overdue and sooner than later, that should play out. But we can only control what is in our hand. This one definitely is not.
And in line with that, we continue to forge our own understanding and deliberation to penetrate market at multiple counts and make it work for us as a company. And from an industry standpoint, sooner than later, we do hope the relief comes through.
Prayesh Jain
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Gopal Balachandran
Thank you.
Sanjeev Mantri
Thanks, Prayesh.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sanketh Godha from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Sanketh Godha
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is that last year we kind of lost market share in commercial lines and given the market is soft as you highlighted, is it fair to say that we will claw back kind of a market share in the softer market or we will remain as cautious as we were last time? And in these lines, just wanted to understand, given the soft market growth outlook, given your second half growth is 16%, and maybe crop being a new tendering year, how do you see growth of the 16% to continue for the next year? And any color if you can give on those lines will be very useful.
That’s my first question. Maybe I will ask another one later.
Sanjeev Mantri
Okay. Sanketh, I think last year, I’m saying when you’re saying last year, it’s the year before the one which had just given the result, which is financial ’25, we didn’t lose market share. We had gained by 0.1%. We had a quarter here where we missed, but overall, we had gained. We’re talking about a market share which is in the range of 13.7%, which was year before last. This year we have closed by 0.8, 0.7 basis point lower. And it’s driven through multiple configuration. When we meet up personally, I’m more than happy to, Sanketh, run through that.
That kind of a share that we draw, these fluctuations to ensure that we select right can happen, but the commercial practice that we have is very unique in the industry, and it’s not driven by what business we are able to write. It’s about how we’re able to even manage claims. There’s a significant contribution on large corporates to mid and to small.
Honestly speaking, from an entity standpoint, we have done a much more decent job on the large corporate side. And over last two to three years, which we have been briefing to you, it’s been a more distribution-led growth, and we’ve been able to diversify our portfolio in a significant manner.
We do believe that we have a very significant edge in the overall practice, and we will be able to have a reasonable presence as far as commercial is concerned. I don’t want to jump the gun to say where the market share will be, but we will be a very relevant player, and it’s not easy to see us losing foothold on that on an overarching basis.
Crop coming into play, we will — and yes, the market opens up significantly. We are still awaiting the details in terms of on what contours this market will open. As and when those guidelines come in, we’ll be able to comment as to what it is. But we’ve always maintained our stand that crop will be purely on selection basis of what we feel is appropriate rather than a targeted segment where we’ll say [Foreign Speech]. That’s not the way we look at it. Do we want to participate? It’s a bold yes. Do we want to chase it? The answer is no. We are very well-placed overall to — and we are excited actually in terms of the opportunity that will present itself.
Our current crop numbers vis-a-vis what was there year before last to this year has virtually halved, and there is some play available for us to make it count in this year.
Sanketh Godha
Yeah. Sorry.
Gopal Balachandran
No, sorry, you were saying something. [Foreign Speech] Go ahead. Please go ahead.
Sanketh Godha
No. Sorry, Sanjeev. When I meant April last year, you lost market share in commercial lines because you believed the market was too soft. And if you are assuming it is too soft again, maybe full year you caught it up, but given April is very strong in the renewal for fire, whether it will have any implication in 1Q growth or April growth, which is significantly very big.
And lastly —
Sanjeev Mantri
Yeah, Sanketh. Yeah, go ahead.
Sanketh Godha
Lastly, on crop, just wanted to add is that whether you confined till last three years to one state. Maybe I don’t know what final contours will be, but it is fair to say that you will be expanding beyond a particular state in the current year or not. Broadly that’s where you are strategically thinking in those lines or not is the point I wanted to check.
Sanjeev Mantri
Yeah. One state worked out because it was in line of what we wanted to do. It is not a plan that will continue to be a one state for this. We will go wherever it makes commercial sense, and we believe that it is appropriate. And crop obviously can play out the way it is. We are still awaiting structures.
So there is — we are open to whatever that comes up our way, to be very honest on that point. And on the commercial part, in terms of what you were saying, look, the growth of the industry itself will get impacted and we are an offshoot of that. So we can do better, we can do worse depending on how it pans out.
But overall, if you remember in H1, we had a much bigger loss vis-a-vis what happened in H2. So we’ve also done what is required. So what cannot be acquired through large corporates, we have played out and distribution has taken its own play. But we are very well intrigued, so we should be fine on the commercial part also overall as an entity.
Sanketh Godha
Understood. So from growth point of view given —
Operator
Sanketh, sorry to interrupt. We request you to please —
Sanjeev Mantri
Growth on commercial because of fire being there, the industry itself may have challenges on growth. Let me put this very clearly, but it doesn’t mean that it put us at a significant disadvantage vis-a-vis anybody else. It would be probably single digit.
Sanketh Godha
Sorry, just to squeeze in. I was asking that second half our growth was 16%, though it was weak in first half. So this 16% growth run rate, you expect to continue largely for FY ’27?
Sanjeev Mantri
There is so much happening all around that how do we predict that? But, yes, Gopal mentioned that very briefly. We’re very confident of moving into the quarter one and quarter two on a positive note overall, as things stand. Yes. But how does the industry play out overall? We will have to watch at that. We also presume that the tailwinds which got triggered because of GST cut, which led to a very robust quarter four, would continue to play out. Definitely, we’ll be well-placed for growth.
We are excited with that opportunity, but we’ll have to wait in terms of how the market plays out. Yeah. Thank you.
Sanketh Godha
Okay. Yeah, thanks. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nidhesh from Investec. Please go ahead.
Nidhesh Jain
Thanks for the opportunity. Sir, my question is on motor. So in motor, in H1, we grew lesser than the market, in H2, we grew faster than the market. So what drove that? And what is the outlook of our growth vis-a-vis industry growth in FY ’27 in the motor segment?
Sanjeev Mantri
Yeah. Okay. So Nidhesh, I think, yes, H2 was better. There was also a significant play that came out on account of new sales for the country doing better. And there is no denial, there’s nothing which we can say that we tend to do better when new sales are very high. And we have seen that new grew at almost 18.8% for us vis-a-vis 13.4% on the old side.
So on the outlook of financial year ’27, we’ll have to see. We do expect a higher single-digit growth at the industry level, and if that happens, it would be again good for us. Another thing which worked out last year was the growth of two-wheeler. When I was talking, I said that it was at a decadal high in terms of the overall growth that happened for last three, four years, we have been saying that we have not beaten the pre-COVID number on two-wheeler. That itself is again a big plus overall on the motor side.
Gopal Balachandran
I think the only thing that I’ll just add, Nidhesh, just to what Sanjeev was saying, I think one of the initiatives that we have also been speaking in our earlier calls is our relentless focus on improving retentions. And we will be very, again, happy to kind of indicate that for the full year, I think at an aggregate, let’s say company level, a large part of which will be predominantly, let’s say, retail business lines. I think we have seen an improvement in our overall retention numbers go up by almost about 5 percentage points. Hence, that is something that we will continue to stay focused on even as we head into FY ’27. That will be an important lever that we would obviously work on, beyond, of course, the point that Sanjeev made insofar as new vehicle sales is concerned.
Nidhesh Jain
So basically the growth acceleration that we have seen is a function of new vehicle sales going up as well —
Sanjeev Mantri
New as well as old.
Nidhesh Jain
Competitive intensity reducing and we’re gaining market share on a like-to-like basis.
Sanjeev Mantri
So yeah. So new and old, and I think it being sometime in quarter one last year that we had, as a company, extensively worked on the retention part. A lot of work was done on multiple counts by us, and that’s what Gopal is referring to when he’s saying that we are a delta of a higher retention of our customers.
Nidhesh Jain
Sure. Should we expect H2 trend to play out next year also that we will grow faster than the industry?
Sanjeev Mantri
I think — let me put it this way. We are well-placed overall, but there are multiple factors. See, if there is a challenge on the energy, if the Indian mentality moves into the savings part of it rather than spending, the motor sales or auto sales, which probably all of you are well aware of it, actually ends up getting really muted, we’ll have to see how that part comes in. But we would say that the momentum on quarter three to quarter four and so effectively in quarter one should play out. I would say, yes, we are going with a very positive mindset at this point of time.
Nidhesh Jain
Sure. That’s it from my side.
Sanjeev Mantri
Thanks, Nidhesh.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Avinash Singh with Emkay Global. Please go ahead.
Avinash Singh
Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Good evening. A couple of questions. The first one, a bit I would say, if you can clarify my understanding, this INR49 crore kind of a charge that you have taken for diminution in value of investment provisions in this quarter, is it largely driven by the equity for market fall or bond or kind of both? So that’s one.
And second, in motor TP, of course, you have explained a lot of things. My question is that, okay, we have not seen a sort of a price hike, but what has changed for you that you have kind of accelerated your growth in CV segment? Now, typically, from whatever we hear, it is a CV by and large where the price revision is required and it’s not so profitable.
But in Q4, it seems that you have gone a lot higher in terms of that CV. So what has changed there? What kind of a strategy is there? And for the full year, around INR780 crores of motor third party reserve we’ll get. Is that number I’m seeing correctly? Thanks.
Sanjeev Mantri
Last one.
Gopal Balachandran
So maybe I can take the last one. So Avinash, again we will keep saying, you should keep looking at the loss ratio range that we have spoken about for motor as a category, which is between 65% to 67%. An absolute amount of reserve number that you spoke about, honestly, in our sense, is something that would not necessarily be a right metric to kind of track. A better metric will be to keep looking at the loss ratio outcome, which is the range that we have kind of spoken about between 65% to 67%.
Now, the good part is — I think what has worked for us I think is — I think we have seen a clear rebound of growth and at the same time, we have been able to maintain the loss ratio expectations that we have set out. Hence, to that extent, I think is where we have been able to deliver both on growth as well as insofar as the loss outcomes. And that’s something that we are very, very happy with and we are very, very positive when we kind of head into FY ’27.
And as I said in response to the earlier question, is there any change in the thought process of any of our reserving philosophies or reserving processes? Absolutely no. We continue to maintain prudence. We continue to maintain margins for any levels of uncertainty that we see in any of the book, and more so in the context of motor third party, which has got a long-tail periods of loss development. So hence, to that extent, that’s in response to the point on motor third party.
To your first point — on the first question with respect to the INR49 crore diminution in the value of investment, I think this is what I kind of mentioned even as a part of the opening transcript. We have a policy on impairment of investments that we kind of have in the context of equity investment specifically. And consequent to what we have seen, the market conditions getting exhibited in quarter four of this year, we have obviously valuated stocks that we hold. And this is the policy that we have. We have done an impairment of about INR49 crores. All of this INR49 crores is with respect to the policy on diminution in the value of equity investments.
Sanjeev Mantri
Yeah. Okay. So now on the CV growth, I think you’re absolutely right. It’s done better. But there are multiple moving parts. I don’t want to get into details. We can do it probably when we meet up Avinash and talk about it. We’ve done better. But the overall contribution of CV to the book has still been range bound at 22%.
Do you see multiple things and there is one more aspect. That’s the cost of acquisition that comes into play. And if we see moderation, we see an opportunity, we are also scanning the market, adding new vectors, and something looks viable, we end up doing it. We’ve also created a significant edge vis-a-vis the market through a fleet management system, which we are working for last almost 18 to 24 months.
And that has also started giving us some bit of an advantage as to what we can do with commercial vehicles. It’s overarching, it’s still come range-bound. And we do believe that the overall growth in CV market also for H2 was at a reasonable level, which I have given in the numbers and the details, which also again presented us with an opportunity to do what is required.
Overall, on a practice side, if you see where ICICI Lombard is, certainly private car and two-wheeler are our strength. But CV, we continue to exhibit a lot more intensity, but the outcome used to be moderate for us. And for last couple of quarters, it’s come into play and I sincerely hope that we’ll have a similar trend going forward next year or this year rather.
Avinash Singh
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nischint Chawathe from Kotak. Please go ahead.
Nischint Chawathe
Hi. This is slightly open-ended. The regulator is looking at newer set of guidelines on commissions, probably capping commissions or deferring them. Assuming that this kind of leads to some amount of tightening, how do you see this impact on the industry and for yourselves?
Sanjeev Mantri
Nischint, I think we’ve always maintained an environment with — where the regulator enforces it. In the past also, we have said that there are quite a few players who have sought dispensation or have not followed the guideline, and that does not augur well. Any tightening on a uniform basis across the industry would place ICICI Lombard at a significant advantage, because we remain within the limits of expense of management. And if others fall in place, we can only see better time ahead for us as an industry.
The only thing that remains is, it should be practiced across the industry on a uniform basis. It’s a welcome sign if it comes out. We always also mention the fact that we believe the expense of management should be on a single slab basis, so that there is clarity of execution and let the market forces decide as to what works for each one of them in every single business line.
Nischint Chawathe
So what is the latest in terms of regulatory engagement on EOM? Is there any revision expected around the corner along with this, separately?
Sanjeev Mantri
We can only say that whatever is accessed by each one of you is what we access, and then we await for what the regulator has in mind. We don’t want to do any second-guessing. But any tightening on account of that would be welcomed by us because it puts the industry in a good path with respect to policyholder and also for us as an institution.
Nischint Chawathe
Got it. Got it. Thank you very much, and all the best.
Sanjeev Mantri
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as our last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sanjeev Mantri for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Sanjeev Mantri
Thank you so much for joining in. We look forward to the new financial with renewed hope. We have definitely, as a team, been excited as to how we’ve been able to close H2 over H1, and more so Q4 over the rest of it. We are positive in terms of how things can work out for general insurance industry at large, and with the reforms that the regulator has put in place. But at the same time, we hope that the world moves in a much more peaceful manner in times to come. So thank you so much, and all the best to each one of you for joining in. Thank you so much.
Gopal Balachandran
Thank you.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]