Bajaj Finserv reported a weak quarter largely on account of Kerala floods impacting its general insurance business and poor crop insurance pricing, which led to gross premium declining by nearly 5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The combined ratio stood at 97.2 percent versus 90.2 percent on a sequential quarter basis. Combined ratio, by definition, is "the sum of the net claims, commissions and expenses divided by net earned premium."

Asset under management for general insurance business grew by 23 percent year-on-year, while it grew by a mere 5.6 percent year-on-year for life insurance business.

For the life insurance business, gross premium was up by only 3.4 percent year-on-year and the new business premium was down 4.6 percent year-on-year.

Both the insurance businesses showed massive decline in their profit levels. For general insurance business, profit after tax was at Rs 182.1 crore, down 29.9 percent year-on-year and 37.4 percent quarter-on-quarter.

While for the life insurance shareholders, profit after tax was down 29 percent year-on-year and 9.6 percent quarter-on-quarter. 13th month persistency ratio was at 78 percent in H1FY19 against 73 percent in H1FY18, lower than most top tier peers.

However, the positive element is that both the insurance businesses remain strongly capitalised with general insurance at 286 percent and life insurance at 770 percent. The requirement for each of the insurance companies are at 150 percent as per regulations.