New-age insurance firm Acko has shown consistent growth over recent years, surpassing the Rs 2,000 crore revenue mark in the fiscal year ending March 2024. At the same time, the company reduced its losses by 9%, bringing them below Rs 700 crore.
Acko’s revenue increased by 19.8% to Rs 2,106 crore in FY24, up from Rs 1,758 crore in FY23, according to its consolidated annual figures accessed from the Registrar of Companies.
For the digital insurance provider, income from gross premium earned accounted for 73.35% of total income, showing a 33.9% growth to Rs 1,587 crore during the last fiscal year.
Service contracts, recoveries from reinsurers, commissions, interest income from investments, and other miscellaneous income brought total revenue to Rs 2,160 crore in FY24, up from Rs 1,797 crore in FY23.
See TheKredible for the detailed revenue breakup.
In terms of cost breakdown, claims paid in the previous fiscal year accounted for 29.3% of total expenses, remaining steady at Rs 830 crore in FY24. Advertising and promotional costs were the next largest overhead, rising to Rs 563 crore in FY24.
Employee benefits, commissions to selling agents, reinsurance premiums, information technology, legal/professional fees, and other expenses brought total expenditure to Rs 2,830 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 2,535 crore in FY23.
- Employee benefit
- Advertising & promotional Expense
- Commission paid other selling agents
- Claims Paid
- Premium on reinsurance ceded
- Others
See TheKredible for the detailed cost breakdown.
The controlled costs in employee benefits, advertising, and claims paid helped Acko reduce its losses by 9.3% to Rs 670 crore in FY24, down from Rs 738.5 crore in FY23. While ROCE and EBITDA margin improved, they remained negative at -35.2% and -30.1%, respectively. On a per-unit basis, Acko spent Rs 1.34 to earn a rupee in FY24.
Earlier this year, Acko founder Varun Dua stated that the firm aims to achieve profitability by FY27, driven by its general and health insurance segments turning positive. Its competitor, Digit Insurance was recently listed on the stock exchange and posted more than Rs 1,800 crore revenue in Q1 FY25.
| EBITDA Margin | -40.55% | -30.10% |
| Expense/₹ of Op Revenue | ₹1.44 | ₹1.34 |
| ROCE | -54.98% | -35.23% |
To date, Acko has raised over $458 million, including a $255 million unicorn round led by General Atlantic in October 2021. According to TheKredible, General Atlantic is the largest external stakeholder with a 10.7% stake, followed by Accel Partners and Elevation Capital.
See TheKredible for the complete shareholding pattern.
Acko’s rise in the insurance market, built mostly around its auto insurance business first, and now, the push into general and health insurance, certainly caused a flutter, if not a disruption. The digital first approach is no longer the novelty it was even 2 years back, and it now faces a much tougher grind ahead as legacy stalwarts fight back to retain marketshare. The travails of Star Health (aggressive selling initially, and now customer data leak) are just one indication of the many risks insurers face in the health segment, where shortcuts are frowned upon. Acko has also been pumping money into advertising and promotions rather than the traditional distribution model. However, it might be running up against the limits of such an approach, as the role of agents and other influencers remains strong in the health segment.
Even Auto firms with their in-house insurance tie-ups are fighting harder now, with dealers sweetening in-house insurance offers with other deals around accessories etc. Dealers at firms like Toyota even warn that cashless settlements are an issue with Acko, something that we couldn’t verify independently yet. All in all, Acko is into the deep end of the market now, where every basis point gain in marketshare will be fought over, and it might need to relook its high decibel advertising only approach soon.
By Entrackr
Source: Entrackr