National Insurance Witnesses Rs 418Cr Net

Kolkata: Kolkata-based National Insurance Company Limited reported a net profit of Rs 418.07 crore for the year March 31, 2007, as against a loss of Rs 114.64 crore in the previous year. The company''s gross premium stood at Rs 3,827.12 crore against Rs 3,536 crore in the last year, a growth of 8.22 per cent over last year. The third party claims went down from 280 per cent in 2005-06 to 149 per cent in 2006-07 in the commercial vehicle sector. Also, stringent norms for medical claims helped boost profit. The company earned Rs 650 crore as mediclaim premium. For the year 2007-08, the company has set a net profit target of Rs 500 crore, on a gross premium target of Rs 4,600 crore. The company has also initiated a five year corporate plan to re-engineer its business processing plan. It appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as consultant and used an advisor from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, to work on the plan.