Mumbai, April 29 : Star Health and Allied Insurance Company on Tuesday reported a staggering 99.76 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 0.51 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q4 FY25), as compared to Rs 215.14 crore in Q3.

The year-on-year (YoY) comparison paints an equally grim picture. The company's net profit tumbled 99.64 per cent from Rs 142.32 crore reported in the same quarter last year (Q4 FY24).

This steep erosion in earnings has dealt a heavy blow to the company's bottom line, both on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and YoY basis.

Total expenses climbed to Rs 4,073.49 crore in the March quarter, up 5.8 per cent from Rs 3,848.66 crore in Q3 and 16.8 per cent from Rs 3,487.17 crore in a year-ago period.

The sharp rise in expenses, especially from rising claim settlements and operational costs, appears to have wiped out the benefits of higher premium income.

The fall in profit came despite an impressive surge in gross premium written -- the total amount of premium income a company earns from all policies it sells -- which rose to Rs 5,138.01 crore in Q4, up 35.3 per cent from Rs 3,796.12 crore in the previous quarter.

However, the gains in revenue were overshadowed by a rise in expenses, according to its stock exchange filing.

This disappointing quarter follows a challenging Q3 as well, where Star Health had already reported a 25.7 per cent YoY fall in net profit to Rs 215.1 crore, down from Rs 289.6 crore a year ago period.

However, the company reported a 15.4 per cent YoY rise in net earned premium to Rs 3,799.7 crore in Q3.

It witnessed a 45.8 per cent decline in EBIDTA to Rs 152.5 crore in Q3.

Shares of Star Health closed at Rs 399, up by Rs 1.10 or 0.28 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday.

/IANS