Birla Sun Life Insurance strong in Q3 – records New Business Premium growth of 168%.

Mumbai, February 13, 2008: – Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd.(BSLI), the pioneer of Unit Linked Life Insurance plans amongst the private life insurers in India, has registered strong growth amongst the private life insurers, as per third quarter reports of the Company for fiscal 2007-08.

The company’s Individual Life business has recorded a growth of 141% in New Business Premium (NBP) for YTD December ’07, as compared to same period last year. Its NBP growth for the quarter ended December ’07 is 168% over Q3 of 2006. Birla Sun Life Insurance commands 6.13% of the total business amongst private players, for the month of December 2007.

The promoters of BSLI have infused capital to the tune of Rs.100 crores, thereby taking its total capital to Rs.1100 crores.

“Various factors have led to this surging performance”, says Mr.Vikram Mehmi, President & CEO, BSLI, “Q3 has seen the launch of 3 new plans and a new equity fund by BSLI. Growth in NBP, rapid branch expansion and good fund performance have paved the way for BSLI’s excellent results. As on YTD December 2007, our total NBP stands at Rs.1079 crores. The fresh capital infusion of Rs.100 crores will be utilized to meet the expansion and technology infrastructure required to support this robust growth.”

The AUM for Birla Sun Life Insurance is in excess of Rs.6200 crores as on 31st January 2008. BSLI’s premium persistency ratio is 97.7%. Its Outstanding Claims Ratio is 0.41%. BSLI has a pan-India branch presence of 340 branches with over 86000 advisors nationally, out of which over 500 advisors are members of the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). BSLI has insured over 2 million lives since inception, comprising over 1.5 million through its individual business and the rest through its Group business.


About Birla Sun Life Insurance

Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between The Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest business houses in India and Sun Life Financial Inc., a leading international financial services organisation. The local knowledge of the Aditya Birla Group combined with the expertise of Sun Life Financial Inc., offers a formidable protection for your future.

Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) in its 6 successful years of operations has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the life insurance industry in India. It pioneered the launch of Unit Linked Life Insurance plans amongst the private players in India. It was the first player in the industry to sell its policies through the Bancassurance route and through the Internet. It was the first private sector player to introduce a pure Term plan in the Indian market. This was supported by sales practices, which brought a degree of transparency that was entirely new to the market. The process of getting sales illustrations signed by customers, offering a free look period on all policies, which are now industry standards were introduced by BSLI. Being a customer centric company, BSLI has invested heavily in technology to build world class processing capabilities. BSLI has covered more than 2 million lives since inception and its customer base is spread across more than 1500 towns and cities in India. All this has assisted the company in cementing its place amongst the leaders in the industry in terms of new business premium income.

Additional information is available at www.birlasunlife.com

 
About Aditya Birla Group

The Aditya Birla Group is a US $24 billion conglomerate with a market capitalization of US $31.5 billion (as on 31st December 2007) and is one of the largest business houses in India. It enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it operates.  It is anchored by a force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 nationalities. Its operations span 20 countries across six continents and is reckoned as India's first multinational corporation.  Headquartered in Mumbai, India, over 50 per cent of the Group’s revenues flow from its overseas operations. The Group nurtures a work culture where success is built on learning and innovation.

The Aditya Birla Group was recently been adjudged “The Best Employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia” by the Hewitt, Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

Additional information is available at www.adityabirla.com

 
About Sun Life Financial Inc. 

Sun Life Financial Inc. is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Tracing its roots back to 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda.  As of March 31st, 2007, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of US$386.82 billion. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol "SLF".

Additional information can be found at www.sunlife.com

 

For further information kindly contact:
Ms. Anjana Grewal,
Sr. Vice President - Marketing & Communication,
Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited, Ph: 022-6678 3333.
E-mail: anjana@birlasunlife.com

 
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