Bajaj Finserv — Q3 FY26
Bajaj Finserv reported a strong Q3 FY26 with consolidated total income up 24% YoY to INR 39,708 crore and PAT (before exceptional items) up 32% YoY to INR 2,936 crore.
bullish
high
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
70%Questions answered1Evaded / deflected10Questions audited
Partial answer
High priority
What drove strong institutional growth and has agency bottomed out?
Asked by Nischint Chawathe, Kotak Securities
Gave qualitative color but no specific numbers or partner names.
no specific partner namesno quantitative growth rate
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Question
Just maybe to begin with, on the life side, there has been a fairly strong and impressive growth in the institutional business. If you could give some color and texture... Secondly, I think on the agency side, after multiple quarters, we are able to see some positive growth there. So is it fair to say that now we have bottomed out?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
Institutional, suspected questions, suspected answers. I'd say that the growth in institutional is widespread. It is not necessarily coming from the big partners... For agency, yeah, while the growth has been good, I think one thing I'd like to point out... we've seen a doubling of their VNB in this nine-month period.
Answered
Medium priority
Will agency be more traditional/protection-heavy and institutions bancassurance-heavy?
Asked by Nischint Chawathe, Kotak Securities
Directly answered 'not necessarily' and explained agency and institutional mix.
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Question
And just extending from here in terms of product mix, is it fair to say that agency will probably be more traditional and protection-heavy, and the institutions will be banker-heavy?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
No, not necessarily. Not necessarily. Our agency is unique... The ULIPs we used to sell earlier weren't necessarily very profitable. Now our ULIPs themselves are looking quite healthy... As far as institutional is concerned, it really is bank by bank.
Partial answer
High priority
What is VNB margin guidance and impact of GST?
Asked by Nischint Chawathe, Kotak Securities
Gave GST mitigation details but no forward margin guidance.
no explicit margin guidancedeferred to trajectory
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Question
Just quickly on VNB margins, if you would want to kind of re-highlight your guidance because I think mathematically, as I see it here, VNB margin would have been closer to around 23% but for the sorry, 21% but for the GST hit. A, how do we see this going forward?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO and Vipin Bansal, CFO Bajaj Life
Vipin: So you would recall that last quarter when we spoke, our estimation was that we'll have about 4.5%, 450 basis points impact of GST. I think that number largely holds good. What is reflected in this quarter's P&L is a mitigation of about 1.75%.
Evasive
High priority
Why grow motor OD at 21% when loss ratio is elevated?
Asked by Nischint Chawathe, Kotak Securities
Did not explain rationale for high growth despite elevated loss ratio.
did not address why grow at 21%deflected to industry context
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Question
If I look at motor OD loss ratio, it remains sort of elevated this quarter as well. Now, in this backdrop, why really grow at 21%?
Ashish Panchal, MD and CEO Bajaj Finserv Direct
Sure. So overall, if you look at the situation, the elevated loss ratio is not something that is just experienced by our organization. It is something that is experienced across the industry... Within this backdrop, we continue to grow with our long-term view, which is sustainable growth.
Partial answer
Medium priority
How is competition in motor and health? What are retail health loss ratios and motor TP release?
Asked by Satvik Kanabar, Jefferies
Declined to give exact loss ratios and TP release numbers.
refused to give exact loss ratiosno specific TP release number
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Question
Just on Bajaj General, wanted to get a sense on how competition is actually playing out in motor and both the group and retail health segments. And second, could you please help us with your retail health loss ratios for 3Q versus 3Q last year? And the last one, how has a motor TP release been this year versus last year?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
Okay. So I'll just give you first thing. We don't talk of competition. We respect all our competitors... On the retail health perspective, we don't give exact loss ratios, but we can tell you that it is better compared to what it was in the same period last year. On the TP release, I think we give the triangle, and it is in line with the way it has progressed further.
Partial answer
High priority
Is low motor TP loss ratio due to reserve releases? Why underwriting losses increased despite better combined ratio?
Asked by Uday Pai, Investec
Explained conceptually but did not quantify reserve releases or underwriting loss drivers.
no specific reserve release quantificationattributed NEP to treaty without detail
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Question
First, if I look at your motor TP loss ratios, they have been on for the first three quarters, it is comparatively very low compared to the last year... So is there any impact of reserve releases, or this is the normalized loss ratio for motor TP going forward? The second question is on the underwriting profit. While our combined ratio has improved... but our underwriting losses have actually increased.
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
Now, if you look at TP and I think this question keeps on coming, the way to look at TP businesses, what is the release per claim settlement, I think? ... In terms of your NEP, it is because we have a whole account treaty... And for the combined ratio, as I said, we always maintain that we would be close to 100 is our ambition.
Answered
Medium priority
What caused the spike in annuity mix and muted retail protection growth?
Asked by Shobhit Sharma, HDFC Securities Limited
Explained annuity spike due to product changes and protection moderation due to base effect.
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Question
So myself, first question is on your product mix. This quarter, we have seen a very sudden spike on the annuity mix. So what has led to this? Have we done some product interventions on this side? ... on the retail protection side, we have seen this growth has been kind of muted, I would say, 18%-19% for you for this quarter. So what has led to that moderation?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
So I think on the product mix, I would say if you look at our mix for last 5-6 quarters, it's largely stable... Last quarter, we actually changed our product proposition on annuity, brought in newer products. And that actually increased the annuity mix to about 9%-10% is what you are seeing now. In respect of retail protection, I think there is a small difference... once the base kicks in, the growth will obviously come down.
Answered
High priority
Is motor OD loss ratio spike an industry phenomenon and will it be new normal?
Asked by Shobhit Sharma, HDFC Securities Limited
Explained industry-wide causes (GST, IDV drop, inflation) and correction mechanisms.
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Question
Now, coming to Bajaj, sir, so on motor OD loss issue now, if I see you mentioned that for the peers also, motor OD loss ratio has been rising. So is there an industry-wide phenomenon, or is there something which has changed all across the industry which has contributed to this spike? And should we expect this to be a new normal now?
Vipin Bansal, CFO Bajaj Life Insurance
Hey, I think Ashish mentioned it earlier. If you look at with the GST corrections, IDV dropped. And motor OD is calculated as a percentage to IDV. And that drop happens. Obviously, that leads to lower premium realization for the same vehicle... Also, with inflation, the cost of repairs goes up.
Answered
Medium priority
What is pricing intensity on fire and commercial lines?
Asked by Divij Punjabi, Banyan Tree Advisors
Directly stated fire pricing has softened and explained cyclical nature.
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Question
I had one question on the general insurance side. What does the pricing intensity look like on the fire and the other commercial lines of business, and how is it expected to be going ahead?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
So India is a free market minus motor third-party price, which is regulated by the government... So right now, to answer your question specifically on the Fire portfolio, the price has softened, which it did there because, again, if you look at the results earlier, the commercial line of businesses had a better loss ratio.
Answered
Medium priority
Have OpEx to NWP cooled off due to slower new business?
Asked by Raghvesh Sharan, JM Financial
Directly denied slowdown in new business and explained OpEx control.
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Question
First, on the general insurance side, so are OPEX to NWP have materially cooled off as compared to all the peers... So do we think of it as maybe you are going slow on the new business and focusing more on the older business because we have also seen OD, at least on the motor side, the OD loss ratio go up?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO
The OpEx, they're getting controlled, but the claims ratio are pretty primitive. Now, if you look at the issue for the industry broadly, it has been most companies not complying with the regulations in terms of the 30% cap. But Bajaj General has been complying with it very well... Also, just to answer the question you indicated, see, on new versus existing business, we've been growing heavily on the new sales, both on retail health and motor.
Answered
Low priority
Is AMC focusing on mutual funds or alternatives like SIF?
Asked by Raghvesh Sharan, JM Financial
Clearly stated continued focus on mutual funds plus plans for alternatives.
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Question
Just a final question on the AMC. So now that we are at a scale of around INR 30,000 crore AUM, are we still looking to be focused on the mutual fund space, or are we looking at alternates SIF and all of these asset classes to grow incrementally?
Ramandeep Singh Sahni, CFO and S. Sreenivasan, President
Yeah. So for us, in the last couple of years, we've actually been focused on building out the mutual fund product suite... But there's also additional opportunities that come up, particularly with regard to SIS, PMS, as well as GIFT City. So these are on our plan for this coming financial year.