Any new Government scheme is welcomed as it expands the market– SBI Life Insurance

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Friday, Nifty closed 0.1% lower at 12,969. Within NIFTY50, TATAMOTORS (+2.8%), ASIANPAINT (+2.0%), and HEROMOTOCO (+2.0%) were the top gainers, while NESTLEIND (-4.3%), POWERGRID (-3.2%), and JSWSTEEL (-2.6%) were the top losing stocks. Among the sectoral indices, REALTY (+2.7%), MEDIA (+1.5%), and AUTO (+1.4%) were the top gainers while IT (-0.4%) was the only losing sector.

Any new Government scheme is welcomed as it expands the market– SBI Life Insurance

Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Mahesh Kumar Sharma, MD & CEO, SBI Life, aired on CNBC-TV19 on 27th November 2020
● The growth trend for SBI Life remains healthy. Management is seeing numbers similar to last year and things are panning out as per internal targets.
● SBI Life did well in October even though the growth was lower than peers. Some areas like ULIPs are seeing improvement and Protection segment growth has been very strong.
● 1QFY21 was weak due to strict lockdowns. SBI Life like its peers had to jump from physical one-to-one selling to digital selling in the least possible time. Management is seeing a month-on-month improvement since June. They expect growth to continue in 2HFY21. Generally, for life insurance companies, 1HFY has lower seasonality and 2HFY is seasonally stronger.
● SBI Life has seen some increase in Covid-19 claims but the quantum is not worrying.
● Demand for risk products is higher from September. Credit life has grown in low double digits since September. Management expects this growth to continue on the back of strong growth in credit offtake.
● SBI Life is seeing YoY growth in ULIPs on the back of picking up of the market, improvement in sentiments easing of lockdowns.
● SBI Life has already repriced products that have an interest rate guarantee to adjust for a drop in interest rates. They continue to reprice products where needed.
● SBI Life has a lot of customers on the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY). The government has been talking about Saral Bima Yojana. Management thinks that any new scheme is welcomed as it increases the market and penetration. And if everyone takes insurance, it is going to be a very profitable business.

Consensus Estimate (Source: investing.com and market screener websites)
● The closing price of SBILIFE was ₹ 849/- as of 27-November-2020. It traded at 55x/ 47x/ 39x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 15.3/18.2/21.8 for FY21E/ FY22E/ FY23E respectively.
● The consensus target price of ₹ 967/- implies a PE multiple of 44x on FY23E EPS of ₹21.8/-.
● In the case of insurance companies, the embedded value per share is the correct multiple for valuing the company. The consensus estimate of this metric is not available on any of the websites.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”