Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited has released the transcript of its earnings call for the quarter and nine-months ended December 31, 2025. The call, held on January 29, 2026, featured discussions on industry developments, business performance, and financial results. Key highlights from the management included the industry's commitment to an annual awareness campaign of ₹120-140 crores, progress on common empanelment initiatives with hospitals, and positive signs regarding the GST impact on consumer demand. The company reported a 26% overall growth rate and 33% retail growth rate on a like-to-like basis for the nine-month period. Profit after tax (PAT) for the nine months stood at ₹208 crores, with a retail market share improvement to 10%. Financially, PAT under IFRS increased by 74% to ₹208 crores for the nine months ended December 31, 2025, compared to the previous year. Q3 PAT was ₹77 crores, up from ₹60 crores year-on-year, after accounting for a one-off impact of approximately ₹20 crores related to new wage codes. The combined ratio improved by 50 basis points to 102.9% for the nine months. The expense of management (EOM) ratio improved to 35% on a without 1/N basis, driven by a decrease in the gross commission ratio and operating leverage. Business performance showed a 31% growth in Q3 and 26% for the nine months. New business growth was strong at 46% in Q3 and 30% year-to-date, contributing to an overall market share of 10% for the first nine months. The agency channel saw 43% growth in Q3, while the direct digital channel grew by 70%. The company noted a positive impact from GST, leading to a 15% increase in ticket size in Q3 compared to H1. Product-wise, the recently launched Reassure 3.0 product has shown significant traction, offering features like lifetime inflation-proofing and unlimited sum insured. Digital health services continue to see wide adoption, with over 50,000 annual preventive checkups booked monthly through the app. The preferred provider network (PPN) has expanded to 47 cities with approximately 1,100 hospitals. During the Q&A session, discussions covered the stability of the retail claim loss ratio, the sustainability of GST tailwinds, industry initiatives on medical inflation and commissions, and the impact of standardized treatment protocols and common empanelment with hospitals. The company reiterated its confidence in meeting regulatory requirements for EOM and maintaining a healthy solvency ratio of 2.49.
