Bajaj Finserv posted a robust 40 per cent jump in profit to ₹441 crore in the September quarter. Bloomberg TV India caught up with Bajaj Finserv Managing Director Sanjiv Bajaj to get an insight on the growth areas.

Where so you see growth coming from?

On the top line, we have seen very strong growth and that’s why you saw the total income go up 37 per cent to ₹1,701 crore as well as stellar performance as far as profits are concerned. The two insurance companies have gone through a slower period. The general insurance company saw a flat top line at ₹1,500 crore. We saw the market as very competitive with the large PSU insurance companies taking the business away.

However, I still believe this would be among the best numbers in the industry. The life insurance business is taking its time to rebuild itself keeping in mind the new product regime and distribution challenges and to that extend the initiatives being taken to rebuild the agency business which is our largest single line of business as well as to build new bank relationships. That focus continues. The profit has doubled but that’s also because of a transfer of a surplus from policyholders' revenue account of about ₹65 crore. As far as the bottom line is concerned, both Bajaj Life Insurance and Bajaj Finance have contributed strongly.

IRDA has allowed banks to have tie-ups with more than one insurance company. Will it help you boost insurance business?

It clearly should and we believe that on an equal footing, we have a full range of products. Plus we used to write in a large number of policies pan-India. So our presence is there across big and small cities and outside the bank-promoted insurance companies, we have steadily been the biggest. So we believe we have what it takes, we need to now make our own pitches and try and get at least a few large banker entries. I believe it’s great from the customers’ point of view as well because they will get more choice and this will lead to competition, better pricing for customers, more transparency. So we are very positive about it.

Related Topics