Star Health & Allied Insurance has reported its financial results for Q4 and the full year FY26, marking a significant turnaround in underwriting performance and robust growth in premium collections. The company achieved a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 20,369 crore, marking a 16% year-on-year increase on an N basis, while its Profit After Tax (PAT) rose 16% to Rs. 911 crore. Crossing the Rs. 20,000 crore GWP milestone coincides with the company completing 20 years of establishment. To account for short-term marked-to-market volatility, the company adopted a normalized investment yield framework pegged at 8% on an annualized basis, under which PAT increased 45% year-on-year to Rs. 1,222 crore, with Return on Equity (ROE) expanding from 10.1% in FY25 to 13.1% in FY26.

FY26 Financial Performance

The insurer's return to profitability was underpinned by a substantial improvement in underwriting discipline. The company recorded an underwriting profit of Rs. 206 crore for FY26, a positive shift of Rs. 371 crore compared to the loss of Rs. 165 crore in the previous fiscal. This recovery was driven by a 2.3 percentage point improvement in the combined ratio, which declined from 101.1% in FY25 to 98.8% in FY26. On a full-year basis, the marked-to-market loss stood at Rs. 127 crore.

Q4 FY26 Quarterly Highlights

The quarterly performance reflected an acceleration of the full-year trends. GWP for Q4 FY26 increased 17% year-on-year on an N basis to Rs. 6,259 crore. The IND AS underwriting profit for the quarter surged 200% year-on-year to Rs. 186 crore, compared to Rs. 62 crore in Q4 FY25, driven by a 2.7 percentage point improvement in the combined ratio from 98.4% to 95.7%. The loss ratio improved by 4 percentage points from 69.2% in Q4 FY25 to 65.2% in Q4 FY26, while the retail loss ratio improved 3% year-on-year to 64.8%. However, geopolitical tension-induced equity market corrections led to a Rs. 558 crore marked-to-market loss during the quarter, resulting in a reported loss of Rs. 55 crore for Q4 FY26, compared to a profit of Rs. 271 crore in Q4 FY25.

Operational Efficiency and Business Growth

Star Health's operational metrics showed consistent improvement throughout the year. The retail loss ratio improved 1% year-on-year to 68.2% for the full year, with quarterly retail loss ratio improvements of 0.8%, 1%, and 3% during Q2, Q3, and Q4 of FY26 respectively. The expense ratio improved by 30 basis points to 30.1%, reflecting disciplined cost management and operating leverage, notwithstanding an absolute impact of approximately Rs. 80 crore due to factors such as GST and the Labor Code. Fresh retail growth on an N basis stood at 37% year-on-year for the full year, with the number of Retail Health policies growing 8%. New-to-insurance customers accounted for 93% of the fresh premium mix for the full year, rising to 94% in H2 FY26. The retail claim settlement ratio increased by 3% to 92%, the renewal ratio improved by 2% to 99%, and the company-level Net Promoter Score (NPS) improved by 8 points to 62 as of March 31, 2026. The company maintained a Retail Health market share of 31.3% in FY26. Proprietary distribution channels — comprising the agency channel and digital direct-to-consumer — now contribute over 90% of retail business. The company's mobile application has surpassed 14 million downloads, with monthly active users exceeding 1.5 million. Digital adoption is strong, with 95% of all fresh premiums collected digitally.

Management Commentary and Industry Context

Managing Director and CEO Mr. Anand Roy highlighted that India's health insurance sector has entered a structurally advanced growth phase, supported by policy tailwinds including the GST exemption on retail health insurance. At the industry level, Retail Health insurance premiums grew 30.2% year-on-year in H2 FY26, significantly outpacing broader non-life industry growth of 11.2% during the same period. For the full fiscal, non-life insurance premiums grew 9.3% year-on-year, while Retail Health grew close to 20% year-on-year. On the claims management front, Executive Director & COO Mr. Amitabh Jain noted that telemedicine calls exceeded 90,000 for the year, with pure telemedicine calls exceeding an additional 40,000, contributing to a 9x jump in consumption of home healthcare and telemedicine services in Q4 alone. The company expects to reprice approximately 80% of its book between Q4 and Q1 of the next fiscal. On the Group Health segment, the SME sub-segment contributed 78% of overall group business in FY26, up from 58% in FY25, reflecting a deliberate recalibration towards profitable cohorts. Chief Financial Officer Mr. Nilesh Kambli noted that senior citizens contribute approximately 20% of the portfolio, and commission ratio improvements have been supported by enhanced sales manager productivity alongside the senior citizen commission adjustment effective from FY25.

Strategic Outlook for FY27

Heading into FY27, the company has reaffirmed its strategic priorities, maintaining a customer-first approach, growth through proprietary channels, and focus on preferred segments. Management targets high-teens growth and aims for a mid-teen to high-teen ROE. The company plans to continue annual price increases across all products to maintain its target combined ratio, supported by ongoing investments in prevention and wellness programs including telemedicine, home healthcare, and condition management. The company also confirmed readiness for the transition to IND AS accounting standards from April 1, 2026, with its IND AS financials having been reviewed by joint statutory auditors for multiple quarters. On the agency front, management reiterated confidence in reaching 1 million agents within the next two years, adding approximately 1 lakh agents annually, with agent productivity on fresh business improving 37% in FY26.

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited has informed the stock exchanges of virtual analyst and institutional investor meetings scheduled for May 07 and May 08, 2026, both pertaining to Q4 FY26. The disclosures were filed on May 04, 2026, from Chennai, in compliance with Regulation 30 read with Schedule III of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, as amended.

Meeting Overview

The company has scheduled virtual meetings with analysts and institutional investors across two days. The May 07 session involves a single firm, while May 08 features multiple group sessions as part of the J.P. Morgan Asia Insurance Forum. The following table summarises the key parameters of both days:

The company has noted that both meetings are subject to changes that may occur due to exigencies on the part of the analysts or investors.

May 08 Group Session Details

The May 08 meetings at the J.P. Morgan Asia Insurance Forum are structured as two separate group sessions, each featuring multiple institutional investors and asset managers. The participants across both sessions are detailed below.

Session 1 — Time (IST): 11:30 AM – 12:20 PM

Session 2 — Time (IST): 1:30 PM – 2:20 PM

Presentation Access

A presentation related to the meetings has been made available for access. The link to the presentation document — https://d28c6jni2fmamz.cloudfront.net/ECPQ_4_FY_26_10bb34a04c.pdf — has been shared as part of the regulatory disclosure. The above disclosures will also be made available on the company's website at www.starhealth.in .

Regulatory Compliance

Both filings were submitted to BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited as part of the company's ongoing listing obligations. The disclosures were signed by Jayashree Sethuraman, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer, on May 04, 2026.