India's HDFC Life, SBI Life, Max Financial extend losses on regulatory worries

Sbi Life Insurance

02/12/2024 08:27

** Life insurers HDFC Life  HDFL.NS  and Max Financial
 MAXI.NS  fall ~2.5% each, SBI Life  SBIL.NS  sheds 1.5%
    ** Macquarie maintains it is negative on India's life
insurance sector owing to regulations, weak margin outlook
    ** Investec says regulatory overhang persists for the sector
    ** Last week, CNBC-TV18 reported India's insurance regulator
could ask insurers to reduce banca channel share to 50% of
annual premium equivalent
    ** HDFL, SBIL and MAXI clarified they haven't received any
such communication from the regulator
    ** Investec and Macquarie do not discard possibility of
regulations on the banca front
    ** Say SBIL, HDFL could be worst hit in case of some
regulations due to higher banca share
    ** Bernstein and Morgan Stanley say such regulations could
prove detrimental to sector's growth
    ** Since the CNBC report, SBIL, HDFL, MAXI down ~6% each in
three sessions - LSEG

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))