New India Assurance Company Ltd (NSE: NIACL) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Jan. 28, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Girija Subramanian — Chairman and Managing Director
Vimal Kumar Jain — Chief Financial Officer
C S Ayyappan — Chief Risk Officer
Chandra Iyer — General Manager
Unidentified Speaker
Dharmesh Saxena — Deputy General Manager
Sharad S Ramnarayanan — Appointed Actuary
Analysts:
Unidentified Participant
Aditi Joshi — Analyst
Kishore Agarwal — Bajaj AMC
Saket Kapoor — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the New India Assurance Company Limited Q3 FY ’25 Analyst Conference Call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. [Operator Instructions] Today, we have with us the senior management represented by Ms Gilja Subramanium, Chairman, Managing Director; Ms Smitash Rivastawa, Executive Director; Ms Chandra Ayer, General Manager; Mr Vimal Kumar Jain, Chief Financial Officer, among other esteemed management members. Before we begin, I would like to say that some of the statements that will be made in today’s discussion may be forward-looking in nature. It is subject to unforeseen risks and uncertainties and the actual results could materially differ. We will begin the call with the opening remarks from the management, after which we will have the forum open for the interactive Q&A session. I would now request Ms Girja Subramanian, Chairman Managing Director for the opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, ma’am.
Girija Subramanian — Chairman and Managing Director
Good evening, everyone. I’m Subramanian, Chairman and Managing Director of the New India Assurance Company Limited. It’s my privilege to welcome you to this investor call following the announcement of our quarter three results for FY ’25. Joining me today are Mr Vasiva, Executive Director; Mrs Mukhta Sharma, Gen Manager and Mrs Chandra General Manager; Mr CES Ayya Pan, our CRO and Gene Manager.
We have our some of our DGMs also here and our Chief Financial Officer, Mr Vimal Jain. At the outset, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all participants for taking the time to join us this evening. I also wish to thank our shareholders, investors and analysts for your continued trust in our organization, your unwavering support is a key driver for our success and motivates us to deliver consistent and sustainable growth. The Indian general insurance industry is witnessing a transformation underpinned by promising macroeconomic and social trends, factors such as rising disposable income, increasing healthcare costs and heightened awareness of the importance of insurance among younger generations are contributing to gradual yet steady improvements in the insurance penetration.
These trends, along with collaborative efforts by our regulator, the IRDAI, insurers and the Government of India provide a solid foundation for the industry’s growth in the years to come. New India Assurance founded by Sir Tata in 1990 has been at the forefront of India’s insurance journey for over a century as well that positions us to capitalise on future opportunities in a sustainable manner. As of December 31, 2024, our gross written premium reached INR32,186 crores with a net earned premium of INR26,061 crores. We anticipate a robust recovery in growth momentum during Q4 for the financial year ’25, supported by encouraging signs of premium strengthening in the property insurance segment and a strategic focus on profitable underwriting practices.
Our focus on underwriting discipline has significantly improved our operational performance. In Q3 FY ’25, we achieved a combined ratio of 116.33, reflecting a steady progress in managing claims and controlling expenses. Our market-share stands strong at 12.80%, reaffirming our leadership in a competitive environment in our net-worth, including the fair-value change account, increased from INR44,704 crores in March ’24 to INR46,506 crores in December ’24. Our investment assets remained robust at INR97,690 crores. Profit-after-tax for the nine months ended, 31, 2024 stood at INR641 crores compared to INR775 crores in the same-period last year. This decline was primarily due to weaker equity market conditions, which impacted investment income. However, our focus on operational efficiency enabled us to reduce underwriting losses to INR5,083 crores from INR5,225 crores in the corresponding period.
Our key operational metrics also show a positive trajectory. The incurred sales ratio improved to 97.37% from 98.07% and the combined ratio reduced to 119.08% from 120.34%. Our solvency ratio remained strong at 1.90 times, well-above the regulatory requirement of 1.50 times. We are confident of achieving a solvency ratio of two times in the near-future. Innovation and customer-centricity remains central to our strategy. We continue to expand our product portfolio with the recent introduction of products like My Identity Test, New India, Mahila, Bima designed for women MSME entrepreneurs, pollution, legal liability and surety bonds being notable additions.
Our focus on digital transformation has enabled us to enhance accessibility and convenience for our customers. For instance, our partnership with Super app platforms like PhonePay and the launch of WhatsApp enabled sales facilities demonstrate our commitment to leveraging technology to meet the evolving expectations from our customers. These initiatives also align with our broader goal of strengthening distribution channels and deepening market penetration. As a domestic systematically important insurer, New India Assurance is uniquely positioned to address the evolving insurance needs of our customers. Our disciplined underwriting approach, strong foundation and commitment to innovation enables us to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities.
Looking ahead, we remain focused on optimizing our business mix, particularly in the Motor and Corporate Health segments while continuing to improve operational efficiency. With a strong leadership team, robust financial and a customer-centric vision, we are well-equipped to deliver sustainable values to all our stakeholders. I wish all our stakeholders a very happy and prosperous 2025. With this, I now invite our financial — Chief Financial Officer, Mr Vimal Jain to provide a detailed overview of our financial performance.
Vimal Kumar Jain — Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Madam. Good evening to you. Good evening all. I am presenting the financial performance up to Q3 of financial year ’24-’25. This up to this period, our gross direct premium income is INR31,995 crores. Gross written premium we have done is INR32,186 crore. Net earned premium is INR26,61 crores. Profit-after-tax is INR641 crores. Net-worth increased to INR2,515 crores and net-worth including fair-value chains is INR46,506 crores.
Management assets at-market value is INR97,690 crores. General reserves is INR16,974 crores. Incurred claim ratio has come down to 97.38%. Combined ratio 119.08% as against 20.34% of previous year. Solvency ratio has increased to 1.9%, 1.9 times as against 1.72 times of previous year and return of equity has come down to 4.01% from 5.08%. In all parameters, we have shown the growth except that profit-after-tax and the return-on-equity due to the lower booking of profit on investment in this — up to this quarter. Our product mix is from brokers, we have generated a business of 33%. Direct side, we direct from Agent, which is 26%, directly is 31%, bancassurance is 1% and dealer is 9%.
Our business is fire segment, it is 15%, marine, it is 2%, motor OD it is 12%, motor TP 15%, sales NPA is the maximum, it is 46% and other 10%. The technical resource has increased from INR50,551 crores as of last year of December to INR52,536 crore of this year. Our market-share is 12.80% as for GI Council data out of INR230 crore, INR230,201 crore our market-share is INR29,466 crore that is showing the 12.8%. We are present in 25 countries in the world. We are having 101,680 offices in India and we are the dominant domestic company.
We are market-leader in general insurance sector and ISO 27,001 2022 certification we are having and we are the and CRISIL ratings we are having and diversified product mix with technical competence, we are having multichannel distribution. We are excellent in customer service and technology and consistent market leaders since last many years. And since nationalization you can say and we are also increasing the return-on-equity through the increase in-market share through improving profit margin by leveraging economics of scale driven by growth.
We are rationalizing the offices, operating offices. We are increasing the digital penetration, we are maintaining healthy solvency margin. We are leveraging on technology to drive our customer satisfaction, profitability and growth. We are also actively involved in social initiatives such as educational and health programs to support local communities. We are making progress in reducing market carbon footprint by adopting sustainable practices and initiatives such as green energy solutions to mitigate climate risk. We have developed a comprehensive plan to integrate ESG consideration into its business and operations that plan includes using advanced technology to automate process, to provide training to employees, to develop ESG metrics to trade performance, we also implemented rigorous governance practice to ensure transparency and accountability in all our operations.
This is from my side now you can add that further the incurred claim ratio is 97.38%. Our commission ratio is 9.50%. Expenses ratio is 12.19%, combined ratio total is 119.08%, solvency becomes 1.90 times and return-on-equity is 4.01%. In the premium gross premium return is through IR is INR4,786 crores, INR793 crore, motor OD, it OD it is INR4,20. Motor TP is INR4,685 crore health including personnel expense is INR14,745, again it is the highest. Other is INR3,174 crore. So in all segments, we are showing positive growth except fire, where we are negative by 9.08%. That’s all from our side. Now you can take the questions.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
Thank you very much. [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Sajdev, who is an investor. Please go-ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Hello.
Operator
Yes, sir. May we request you to use your handset, please, sir.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. So my first question is, can you share an update on how your partnership with Fonpay and WhatsApp have done in Q3 FY ’25? Especially in terms of sales.
Girija Subramanian
Yeah. So our CRO can handle this? Yes.
C S Ayyappan
Thank you, sir. Thank you for the question. And yes, sir. And as a strategy, the new India has partnered with the Supra players like and the Q3 growth in the sale is 50% with. And as far as the WhatsApp is concerned, we have started with the initial sale of the existing products and we would like to expand further with — on-sale of the product, but however, one did more concentrated on the service for the quarter.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. So just one more following question on to that actually. Could you give us some updates on the performance of the renewed government has seen in Rajasthan and how it fits with your profitability goals actually.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected while we reconnect the management line. [Indecipherable], may we request you to hold the line please. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line reconnected. MR. Jarek, you can go-ahead with your question, please.
Unidentified Participant
Yes. Sir, my second question is, could you give us some updates on the performance of the renewed government scheme in Rajasthan and how it fits with your profitability goals?
C S Ayyappan
Thank you. It’s wonderful to Jirik for raising this question. It’s as a socially committed organization, New India always tried to support all the government schemes, especially. However, with a line of thinking about the bottom-line also to take care of the interest of the stakeholders. In the scheme also, what we have done is we have taken into consideration the expiring experience basing on that, we have raised the premium in such a way that there is a premium growth as our Chairman Madam has pointed out, of 30% on the existing premium base and which will be taking care of the bottom-line requirements also. However, addressing the needs of the common man at all times.
Operator
Does answer your query yes, yes, sir.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Thank you.
Operator
MR., do you have any other questions? Thank you. We move to the next participant. The next question comes from the line of Adity Joshi, who is from J.P. Morgan. Please go-ahead.
Aditi Joshi
Yeah. Thanks for taking my question. My first question — actually a couple of questions. First question related to the investment yield side. So possible to explain as and what were the reasons why we had lower investment yield? And even if I look at the yields without unrealized gains and losses, it actually came off a little bit. So is it because mainly — it is mainly because of fall in the interest rates or was it because of the lower equity markets. And if you can also provide your comment on what’s the outlook as in — is it going to remain weaker in the next coming quarter as well? Because even if we improve the underwriting profit, but if we have, let’s say, a weaker investment income than it actually weighs on the profit-after-tax. So that’s actually first question.
And second question is actually related to the growth in the motor segment. We saw growth in both motor OD as well as third-party, but specifically speaking about third-party, it was quite high and it has been quite high within the industry as well. So if you are able to explain as in what’s causing that growth, especially in the third-party segment? And also if you are able to provide some comment on the portfolio mix change as well, like you have mentioned in the comment as in the mix of how the mix between the private cars or two-wheelers in the commercial vehicles has changed and what’s causing that growth? Yeah, that’s it from me. Thank you.
Chandra Iyer
Aditi, I’m Chandra here. So regarding this yield on investment, what you are asking about, the lower yield like you pointed out is because of the churning in the market that is happening in the equity markets. So we were able to realize or we were able to realize lesser in that particular segment of our investment. So that has hit our investment yield. And about the outlook, it is still quite a volatile market that we are having and we are waiting for tomorrow’s RBI guidance. So we will be seeing some change in the interest yields in the market and we will be taking action accordingly to lock-in whatever we can at the higher-yielding securities. Does that answer you?
Aditi Joshi
Yes. So was the slowdown also caused because of the interest rates or it was mainly only from the equity markets.
Chandra Iyer
It is primarily due to the equity market. We didn’t get enough an opportunity to cash-in on the equity sales.
Aditi Joshi
Okay. But it was down even without the unrealized gains and also that’s again because of the weaker equity markets.
Chandra Iyer
In previous quarters also, we were little slow in our realization because we were expecting dividend yields from our portfolio. So we had slowed down a bit, but unfortunately, in the later part of the year, the market has not given us an opportunity to catch-up.
Aditi Joshi
Okay. Okay.
C S Ayyappan
Yeah. On the second question which is on motor TP, I think TP business basically it is mandatory. So it grows, I mean even without putting in any efforts, whatever business comes in, we are not able to decline that. Having said that about the portfolio mix, we have a mix of a bigger portfolio on the commercial vehicles, some mid-sized portfolio on private car and a very small two-wheeler book. So basically, this is the mix that we have and the high-growth in TP is across all these. Yeah, our motor DGM will clarify further on this.
Unidentified Participant
Good evening, everyone. Regarding this motor-specific query, I would like to answer in this manner, this motor TP growth, what you are looking at now. Basically it is — first is government’s awareness bringing into the general public at large and motor vehicles, especially these commercial vehicles, some of them were at some certain zones were going without this TP and this government has raised the awareness about the third-party insurance.
That is one of the reason why we are finding this TP premium growth. However, the TP rates per vehicle are still less, but it is the major awareness that is standing out because of which we are getting a good TP coverage on commercial vehicles.
Operator
[Foreign Speech] The participant has been muted, sir, you can go-ahead.
Unidentified Speaker
Hello, should I continue.
C S Ayyappan
Yeah, you can continue.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. So coming to the motor — the other part, which is the motor owned damage cover part. Here actually the earlier two quarters, the trends in the market were also not very encouraging. The sales were also not good. It is just this Diwali vacation, some good numbers are coming out from the motor manufacturers and that is helping our cost and we are getting a good number of this. Especially in this quarter, we have shown a good accretion on the motor part. Anything else to be — we are we any query more?
Aditi Joshi
No, I think this is good. Thank you for that. Thanks so much. Just can I ask one more question and that’s broadly in the health segment. So it’s possible to share the split or the growth between the retail and group Health for the 3rd-quarter?
Dharmesh Saxena
So yeah, good evening. This is Armesh. I am the DGM Health at New India. So to answer your question, Madam, the retail growth is around 11%. GMC that is the group health growth is 7% and government, we were at a minus 6%. That is because the scheme was — is effective from February ’25. So that should come in this quarter. I hope that answers.
Aditi Joshi
Yeah, yeah. That’s clear. Thank you.
Dharmesh Saxena
Thank you, ma’am.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from the line of from MK. Please go-ahead.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to know whether I’m audible.
Girija Subramanian
Yes. Audible.
Unidentified Participant
Yeah. So I had a couple of questions. So first one was on the health segment, particularly. So just wanted to know the trends in the claims ratio? And how are you seeing the growth in the retail and the group segments going ahead? Secondly, on the Motor TP segment, the quarter has seen a little bit of uptick in the number — in the claims ratio. So wanted to understand the reason for the same. And secondly, I wanted to understand your views on any price hike whether you’re expecting in FY ’26. And lastly, on the fire segment, have you seen any kind of pricing discipline in the month of January. So these were my three questions.
Dharmesh Saxena
Yeah. So good afternoon. This is again DGM Health. So I will start by answering the health question first. So if I talk about the growth, the retail segment is growing at 11%. GMC that is the Group Health is growing at 7% and government business till the quarter three was minus 6% and that again because of the Rajasthan scheme, which kicks-in February ’25. So that is regarding the growth, sir. And if we talk about ICR, we have substantially improved our ICR over last year. We are at 103.25% in total. And in retail, the ICR is 88%. Group health it is 103% and government was 114%, sir.
Unidentified Participant
Sir, my question on growth was particularly from the competitive intensity perspective. I mean, whether you’re seeing any competitive intensity, particularly in the group segments?
Dharmesh Saxena
In the group, yes, we have competition, but I mean, we are as very aware of our bottom-line and we are looking to the fact that we should be getting profitable business so that at the end-of-the end-of-the day, we are making some profit.
Girija Subramanian
And we have been adopting a very stringent pricing discipline where group health goes because that is where there were issues earlier on. And from the last more than a year, there has been a pricing discipline that has been practiced very, very strictly at New India, wherein — when we accept GMC business, we correct the price so that both experientially as well as on an exposure basis, we are on a better footing than what we were in the previous year. So — and we have not — we have refused also a lot of group business when the pricing did not meet the minimum levels that we have felt was required.
So from this perspective, I think there has been changes in our portfolio, in the group health basis, these factors. And in the retail, there has been an increasing thrust on growth in retail sector in health and this is very much evident from the growth that is seen of 11% in retail, whereas the growth in GMC has been arrested at 7%.
Unidentified Participant
That’s helpful, ma’am. Can you just help me with the answers on the other two questions?
Unidentified Speaker
Yeah, motor. Sir, this is V. Regarding the increasing ICRs in TP, if you see from the year ’21, ’22, the ICR on earned premium was 67.55%, ’22-’23 it rose to 75.07%, ’23 24%, 83.05% and up to quarter three in financial year ’25, it is 88.94% on earned premium. So the main reason is non-revision of the motor premium by the Ministry of Road Transport. The last revision in premium happened in the year 2022, which was also very nominal — very nominal increase and some — and some decrease in certain segments.
Also, we have seen in the past few years the nature of awards given by the MACT and other courts, the minimum wages even for unemployed people is now being taken at 15,000. That increases the awards to a very great extent. Also other judgment risk which came in Mukun case and which was reinforced in the Ramadi case where a commercial vehicle can also be driven by a person holding a private car license. So all such cases, which we were denying now will go back and will have to be paid. So these are some of the reasons why the ICR is going up in PP and we are waiting very expectantly for increase in premium, which will help us in bringing down the ICR in this segment. Yeah. Does this answer the motor one?
Unidentified Participant
So just small follow-up. So can you just little bit give your commentary on the reserving in the motor TP segment particularly. Like how is it because other players are seeing a lot of reserve releases on — during the quarter and the share.
Sharad S Ramnarayanan
Sharad here. As far as the results are concerned, what we usually do is actually we adopt a stable approach during the quarters and if at all, any corrections have to be done either upwards or downwards. As far as the prior years are concerned, it will be done in the 4th-quarter. This is why you always need to look at the third-party reserve your performance over a full-year basis because quarterly there can be quite a bit of variations. And as since the prices have not really increased, I think whenever you are making an estimate, you have to consider the expected claim inflation. So as long as the prices remain constant, it’s very natural to expect the loss ratios to go up steadily, which is what you have — you have witnessed in our results.
Regarding past year reserve releases, so each company is a book is very different, depends on the business mix, depends on the location where they write, depends on the extent of CB, PC, TW kind of thing in the books and each one behaves differently. So different companies, you cannot really expect the numbers to be similar. So I think at the end-of-the year, we will again reevaluate what is the situation and after that, we can talk about it in detail.
Unidentified Participant
Sure, sir. Thank you so much. That was helpful. And lastly on the segment, like are you seeing any pricing discipline in the month of January?
Girija Subramanian
Yeah. So the market, there is a — I mean, I mean there is a expectation from the market that the pricing is going up for fire and the few renewals that have happened from Jan, yes, the price is holding to a large extent. So we believe that the market behavior to increase pricing following a huge dip in the fire pricing, which have gone to unsustainable levels and that has been — that has motivated the market to sort of increase the pricing. And I think across all the renews that we have seen, it is holding and we expect that for this quarter, the fire business will be at more sustainable levels and you can see better performance of higher as a class this quarter.
Unidentified Participant
Thank you so much, ma’am. Thank you so much everyone for answering the questions.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Kishor Agarwal from Bajaj AMC. Please go-ahead.
Kishore Agarwal
Hi, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I have a couple of questions. So first is on the motor TP side. So have you taken any third-party reserve releases this quarter? And you also briefly talked about that there can be a price hike this year. So what can be the quantum that we expect on the TP price hikes? Second question is on the combined ratio journey. So I think you had briefly highlighted in the last call that you want to bring down the combined ratio. So this quarter, we have seen some improvement in the claim ratio, but that is very minimal. So where are we in the overall journey and how long do you expect it to take for you? And on the fire-side, what has been the premium increase that you have seen in Jan? So those my questions?
Dharmesh Saxena
Yeah. On the TPA results, I’ll like to answer that we have not had any prior year releases at least for the first-nine months. At the March quarter, we will again relook for the full year’s exact development patterns and decide whether there is need for any strengthening or need for any releases. At that time, we will be taking a call. During the quarter, like I said earlier, we will be just making results-based on a simple estimate basis by adjusting the assumed loss ratios for the expected claim inflation.
Girija Subramanian
On the combined ratio journey, yes, we had — we had throughout the year targeted for reduction in combined ratio as we go with every quarter. And this quarter we have achieved a reduction in the combined ratio. And this has come through a lot of effort and basic and the most important effort that has come in is through the selection of risk, wherein across lines of businesses, we have taken a concerted effort to improve risk selection and also improve pricing where health is concerned on GMC business and we are also trying a product — a line-of-business, diversification, a different portfolio mix wherein we have more trust on retail, across health, across home, across liability and other miscellaneous segments.
So with this diversification, we have seen this impact coming and we are sure that this will continue in the next quarter and in the in the immediate long-term or immediate term that two or three years, we’ll continue this journey of a very, very strict and a strict supervision on risk selection so that qualitatively, we have a better book of risk, which will hold us in good for a long-time to come. So that is the journey for combined ratio and we expect that the ratio will come down every quarter. For the fire premium increase, we cannot give a quantum for — because these risks are across various occupancies and each occupancy has a different claim ratio, has a different experience and exposure.
And the increase would determine on basis on each subjective on each risk previous experience and what the exposure holds in-store for the next year. So we can’t comment on exact percentage of price increase, but it’s definitely good enough to see the portfolio turning around. I think a very positive side.
Kishore Agarwal
Okay, Mas. Thanks for those. Just two follow-ups. So one, have you seen any impact of the one by an accounting change on the long-term premium? And secondly, on third-party, we just have two more months before the financial year end. So have you seen any discussion with the regulator on the price hikes on the TP side? So that would be good.
Girija Subramanian
Yeah. So on the one-by-end accounting, we — yeah, we are strictly implementing that part of regulation and we are — I mean, that is being implemented, but we don’t see a very big impact for New India because we don’t have a very big book of long-term business. We have business in motor, but that’s already been accounted in the one by N way the way it is mandated. And for the other segments wherein the long-term policies are almost — they’re not at all significant, they won’t have any impact on the overall results for new year.
As regards to the TP — motor TP premium, there has been a constant dialogue that has been taken-up by the Generations Council on behalf of the industry with the moth and effort continues to be on. We are also trying to have this dialogue with MOT regularly on increasing TP premium and very sure that there would be some increase in the near-future.
Kishore Agarwal
Okay, ma’am. Thank you for the question. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question is from Adity Joshi from J.P. Morgan. Please go-ahead.
Aditi Joshi
Yeah, thanks for taking my question again. Just a couple of questions. Within the health, you have said that the retail health was — GWP was up by 11%. So are you able to share as and how much of this increase was because of price increase, if at all it was there? And the second question is, I just wanted to understand with respect to the future regulation environment, if we have, let’s say composite licensing coming in and what is the management’s strategy around that will be as in? Would you like to expand to, let’s say, life insurance as well, or how, how, how will you like to — how will be your strategy under that — under that scenario?
Dharmesh Saxena
Yeah. So good evening again. So as I said that the retail growth is around 11% and mainly it is due to the price hike, which we have done in October this year. It has been done mostly after about 5.5 years. This increase in pricing and also to take into effect the various indications which IRD had given. So after a long-time, there has been an increase in the pricing parameters. And most of the growth I could say is due to that price increase.
Aditi Joshi
Okay. And then just a follow-up. Going-forward, do you think pricing increase can happen further or this with the level of hike that you have taken is sufficient for, let’s say, the next year?
Dharmesh Saxena
So we are actively marketing our various products also. So I think with the growth in business, with the more policies which are marketed, probably the prior — the premium will also increase. So the premium base was surely going to go up.
Girija Subramanian
Okay, got it. And on the composite, if you the license, as of right now, we do not have any plans to foray into life insurance. Life insurance is a very different business. It requires a lot of, you know banning and it requires a lot of capital also and I think the — it takes — it’s a very long journey before you break-even in-life insurance business. It takes a lot of you know future planning to get into that sector. And as of today, there is no such planning. We are already quite well-diversified into the non-life segment, which we do practically everything in the in the non-life space so right now we don’t have any plans to get it to drive life business.
Aditi Joshi
Okay, okay, got it. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Saket Kapoor with Kapoor; Company. Please go-ahead.
Saket Kapoor
Yeah, Namaskar,, thank you for the opportunity. Ma’am, when we look at our financial numbers and the line-item 13, speak about the underwriting losses that we incur on a quarterly basis. So it is it is our company is serving the nation and in various sectors. But for investors, how should they look at the this company offers as an proposition, if you could just dwell on the same.
Girija Subramanian
Yeah, actually underwriting losses are there across the various lines of business. But we are able to generate profits because of the investment income and proper handling of the investment funds that are with us. We are also putting our entire resources to examine all these lines of business as to how we can turn them around and reduce the losses, bring the combined ratio down so that it becomes very attractive for the investor. But then I mean, I think it is — this is a problem which exists with most of the entities that operate in this market.
The price sensitivity is very-high and the increasing price for any product become very, very difficult in this market. And because of the intense competition and even the companies willing to, you know, know to almost give the customer you know, the product almost free-of-charge. That is the reason why we are finding it very tough to you know to increase prices very heavily, we have to draw a very-high balance between maintaining the volume and the quality. And that is a very, very thin line and we tightrope walk that we do every day and trying to see that at the end-of-the day, our books show some profit the investor. And I believe that a part of this whole thing also comes from the fact that we are underpenetrated, very much underpenetrated market where insurance awareness is all the right, but it’s definitely not at the optimal level where insurance is a byproduct, it’s not a product.
So right now, it’s a — it’s really a sales product. We need to first of all, convince a customer to buy and then he buys, then he wants it almost at a very, very competitive price where it’s come — it becomes very unaffordable for the insurer. So — and there are many things as a government entity that because of all the transparency levels being where they are and being on having to put everything in a very transparent and ethical way that also because of that, that is a price that is associated with that. And we are very proud to be working in that way so that we are able to open a books of accounts to all entities, you know so that we are seen to be transparent, seem to be fair, seem to be an entity that is in the national service of include — of being — of making our insurers — our citizens financially included in every possible way.
And we have to do this entire thing with a sense of responsibility, wherein it comes to we sell our products at a price, which is by which we are able to manage the losses as in conjunction with the investment income. So in this whole capit I think right now, I can tell you that we are doing our best. Our senior management is put its best foot forward to see that we are able to give the best-value the current circumstances to the investor and we will never let our investors down. We are always committed to see that every rupee that we can give back to our stakeholders by way of return, we will surely do that. Our entire management is completely committed on that. And it’s a 106-year-old company that has stood the test of time that has withdered all the strong.
We are always the first port of call for any national requirement when it comes to insurance and we will continue to do so for many years to come. And other than this, I would say that it’s an intangible element that you surely should look at when you invest in this company and a long-term perspective.
Saket Kapoor
Ma’am, you mentioned about our investment is supporting our cash-flow. So what is the current size of our investment book? And if you could give the split between investment in the equity market and the debt products?
Girija Subramanian
Yeah. So our current investment book is of INR97,000 crores, which we have put in the presentation, of which our equity is about — near about 17% of the total.
Saket Kapoor
17% [Foreign Speech].
Operator
Hello. Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected. The management line has disconnected. I will quickly reconnect them. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, we have ladies and gentlemen, we have the line for the management reconnected so you can go-ahead.
Saket Kapoor
Ma’am, you were mentioning about 17%. 17% being in equity and others are in the debt.
Girija Subramanian
17% of our book-value is equity.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. And on the debt part, what is our current yield to maturity?
Girija Subramanian
Current yield is somewhere between 7% and 7.5% on the debt book.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. And the further breakup of debt into the government and the state government for what percentage is towards the government.
Girija Subramanian
State govenment and central government security is totally about 53% of our book-value is invested in this government securities and other stage interest bonds is 23%.
Saket Kapoor
Okay. Madam as you were alluding to the earlier idea of creating value for your shareholders. When we look at our market capitalization when it — when the stock got listed sometimes I think in 2017, but if correct me there, the prices have remained or have halved over a period of time for the last eight years. So when you are conveying the message that you will be creating value for your shareholders, that has not been the case for the last whatever trading history we have. Maybe the organization is a up this other old day, but still then also last seven years performance market [Foreign Speech] There is a gap between what you are perceiving and how investors are perceiving the company.
Girija Subramanian
So do you want us to answer to this?
Saket Kapoor
Yes, ma’am, you alluded to the fact that you are working for creating shareholder value. And my observation was when we got listed in 2017 from then to today, whoever have remained invested or if one can look at the enterprise value, that has declined only. So what are the key factors that neither the market can perceive the valuation which you are alluding to and therefore the decline in the — in the enterprise value.
Girija Subramanian
I think from the time we got listed till now, we’ve had a COVID era and we’ve had this era where the markets have completely fallen down and I think all the — all the insurance companies suffered from that. So it’s not only New India alone. If you look at any other listed company also, it has been the same story for insurers in general. And we are — since we are in the business of insurance, we are not able to — we are regulated in terms of where we invest our funds and we have to stick to those norms.
So obviously, there are certain restrictions as to where we can — we are not an investment company that we use the entire funds and use all the ups and downs of the market to churn out a maximum profitability for the shareholders. We have a limitation that we have to use the premium funds that come through premium in and invest them in by way of regulation and also then — and within that those you know within that those parameters, we have to generate the best results. So with — and handle that market volatility across these years. And I think within all these restrictions and challenges, we’ve done — we have done a wonderful job.
Saket Kapoor
Okay, ma’am. So small point, ma’am, if you could give us the peer comparison in the space where we operate so that can find out the difference. And secondly, ma’am, since the product is — the penetration is low, I think so more steps should be taken not only by the — not by the organization, but also by the Government of India to promote and make it a buy-side product, which you very well alluded to that it is a sell-side and as and when the requirement arrives, we are going to sell it. What steps should,? There should be suggestions to the government of India through the nodle agencies that this become a byproduct and lot of other initiatives like the government takes about Swatch, Maharat and other verticals should be taken in terms of the insurance part of the story also going ahead. That was my understanding and humble suggestion.
Girija Subramanian
Yeah. So thank you so much for that. Now this pure growth comparison that you are asking actually I should tell you that we are unique in the way we are and we don’t have any peers. We have only ICIC in Lumbad and that is nowhere near us. I mean it’s a private sector entity and many other things which are different from New India and therefore not comparable. So we’ll not be able to give you a peer group comparison, but and as regards your suggestion that we should be giving to the government regarding making insurance by-product, that is happening.
It has been happening across the years and now with the current government being very active on financial inclusion, it has found years also and we can see so many schemes being rolled-out by the government. Most of these schemes are after intense dialogue with the insurance industry and most importantly the public sector companies, which given a lot of inputs, we are regular — you can say, governed by the Department of Financial Services and we have regular interaction. Every quarter there’s a review and during these reviews, everything is discussed there, including challenges, including the penetration.
We are constantly being pushed by our government also on — to bring off products and roll role reached out the last mile customer, we are — in fact, New India has put an increase and an undoubtedly focused like focus on trying to see that we reach our products, our super products to the last customer in the land and we have activated several of our offices. We have been talking to government, state government, trying to see how we can combine with them and bring this product to the customer.
Operator
Sorry to interrupt you, ma’am. Yes, ma’am, your audio is not clear. Ladies and gentlemen, please stay connected ladies and gentlemen, we have the management line recognized it. Ma’am, you can go-ahead.
Girija Subramanian
Yeah. So as I said that we do give us our inputs to the government very regularly. And as a PSU company, we are regularly being reviewed by the Department of Financial Services to whom we report. It is a very bare review that is done down to the smaller levels across each line-of-business. We’re also encouraged to bring out lot of products to align with the distribution channels that will allow us to take our products to the last mile customer in the rental of India and the whole purpose is to bring in financial inclusion. So that’s a huge activity that is happening across the last few years.
And it’s just that, you know, even despite a lot of efforts, it’s very, very difficult to break ice, but the efforts are still on and the numbers will speak for themselves in terms of number of insureds across various retail lines. And I’m sure that this kind of effort that we are putting in, it will see a lot of traction in the coming few years. And all that — all the efforts that the government and the insurance companies, the regulator, the Generations Council, all of us are putting in humongous efforts to see that insurance becomes a byproduct, the day is not far and this will happen. We are very sure and very positive about it.
Operator
Thank you. Due to paucity of time, we are taking questions from one more person only. We have Rajna on the line, who is an investor. Please go-ahead. Yes, ma’am, may we request you to use your handset, please?
Unidentified Participant
Yes. Hello. It better now?
Operator
Yes Ma’am.
Unidentified Participant
I have one question. Like earlier D2C had advantage overtake, which traditional payers are slowly catching-up. Up. Now once tech has been enabled into traditional players as well, how can traditional players have a competitive edge over D2C? As you been an industry player, how different is our tech compared to other D2C players and how are we well-placed in terms of tech?
C S Ayyappan
Good evening. The CEO of Community. See, to answer your question I would like to answer.
Operator
Sorry to interrupt you, sir. One moment, sir. MR., please stay on the line. The management will take your question. I’ll answer them yes, sir, you can go-ahead, sir.
C S Ayyappan
Yeah. To answer your question, I would like to divide the answer into two-parts. One is about the traditional players and second one is — D2C players. One is basically the traditional players, we are having, unlike the D2C players, we are having the direct business also, sizable share of our business is coming directly also for us. So actually, we are having a direct reach to the customers traditionally also. Second one is, as far as the D2C players are concerned, they concentrate only on the D2C using a particular platform only and not using the digital mode, which is an adapted practice throughout the world when it comes to the general insurance because being a push product, naturally the digital is the preferred mode and where the digital is coming as a secondary model.
So this is the difference when it comes to the marketing. So as a market-leader, New India a hybrid approach. One, using the traditional method of approaching the customers directly physically; second, using the digital modes and also using the digital partners to reach-out to the customers on D2C mode. These are the two approach papers that we are having. As a market-leader, we are exhibiting and also doing the sale successfully now.
Unidentified Participant
Just a follow-up on that. Isn’t D2C players are having omnichannel presence as you rightly said, and they are scaling at a faster rate. So the competitive intensity is high. So to overcome that, what are the measures we are taking as an industrial leader.
C S Ayyappan
Yes. Well, the competitive intensity, as you rightly pointed out, especially it happens in the retail market, always anywhere in the world, the retail is highly competent and also highly intensified through the intermediary commissions and various expenditures and also the maximization of the cost to acquire a customer. This is what happens through the world. This also in India — India is also not an acception for that matter, also follows the same method. However, we have to comply with the regulatory guidelines on the expenditure, which is 30%, whereas we have noticed some of the D2C players in the recent days have exceeded this 30%. So which means they are violating and it may be leading them to unnecessary things, which I’m not able to comment about other players. But as a prudent player and who is leading this market, I can very well say that New India is doing the D2C sale within the limits of the IRDA guidelines and which will stabilize the market growth in the digital.
Unidentified Participant
Okay. Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end-of-the question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand it over to the management for closing comments.
Girija Subramanian
I thank all our stakeholders, our investors for you know the trust and trust proposed in New India and our management to carry-forward this story and see that we bring about our strategies to the floor and with the proper intention that we have always framed them and see that we are in the best service to our customers and stakeholders at all times. And we continue to give good results and good return on investment to all our investors going-forward. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful 2025. Thank you.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]