1. At a Glance – Doctor ne bola “reports thodi mixed hain”
Star Health & Allied Insurance Company Ltd is that one insurer who has maximum patients and maximum complaints at the same time. As of today, the company sits at a market cap of ₹26,816 Cr, stock price around ₹456, and trades at a spicy P/E of ~60x, which already tells you the market is pricing in future good health, not current fitness.
Latest Q3 FY26 numbers suddenly shocked the ICU:
- Gross Written Premium (GWP): ₹5,047 Cr (+23% YoY)
- PAT: ₹449 Cr (+414% YoY)
- Combined Ratio: 98.9% (finally below 100!)
Retail health market share remains chunky at 32%, solvency is a comfortable 2.15x, renewal ratio a jaw-dropping 98%, and lives covered now cross 1.3 crore. But… margins remain thin, opex is still stubborn, and valuation is behaving like the company has already cured cancer.
Is this a genuine turnaround quarter or just a steroid injection before the next check-up? Let’s open the full diagnostic report.
2. Introduction – India ka family doctor, but clinic ka kharcha zyada hai
Star Health is India’s first standalone health insurer, licensed in 2006, and today the largest private health insurer by retail business. If Indian health insurance were a mohalla clinic, Star Health would be the one with the longest queue.
Retail health contributes 92% of FY25 revenue, making Star a pure-play retail health beast. That’s good because retail has better stickiness and renewal. That’s risky because retail claims volatility can destroy margins overnight.
FY21–FY24 was a brutal phase:
- COVID hangover
- Claims inflation
- Pricing mistakes
- Regulatory heat
- Margin compression
FY25 looked like recovery, but TTM profit still fell 43%, and suddenly Q3 FY26 explodes with 414% YoY PAT growth. Naturally, investors are confused.
Is Star finally pricing risk properly? Or did claims just behave nicely for one quarter? Remember, in insurance, one good quarter doesn’t make a healthy insurer. Consistency does.
So before celebrating, let’s understand what Star actually does and
where the money leaks.
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do? (Hint: Claims hi claims)
Star Health sells health insurance policies to individuals, families, senior citizens, women, diabetics, cardiac patients – basically anyone who scares other insurers.
Core Segments
- Retail Health (92%) – bread, butter, ghee, and cholesterol
- Group Health (7%)
- PA/Overseas Mediclaim (1%)
Product Buffet
From Young Star to Senior Citizen Red Carpet, from Cancer Care to Diabetes Safe – Star specializes in high-risk underwriting, which competitors often avoid.
That’s why:
- Average sum insured: ₹12 lakh
- Fresh policy sum insured: ₹17 lakh
Translation? Bigger policies = bigger premiums = bigger claims risk.
Distribution – Army of Agents
- 805,000 agents
- 915 branches
- 77 banca partners
- Branch network is 3.4× larger than the next private health insurer
Channel mix:
- Individual agents: ~83%
- Digital: ~9%
- Banca: ~7%
- Corporate: ~1.5%
This agent-heavy model gives reach, but also bloats opex (14.7% of GWP). Question: Can Star ever become lean?
4. Financials Overview – Quarter ne dil jeet liya, history abhi bhi strict hai
Quarterly Comparison Table (₹ Cr)
| Metric | Latest Qtr (Dec’25) | YoY Qtr (Dec’24) | Prev Qtr (Sep’25) | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 4,566 | 4,146 | 4,378 | 10.1% | 4.3% |
| EBITDA | 172 | 285 | 75 | -39.6% | 129% |
| PAT | 128 | 215 | 55 | -40.4% | 133% |
| EPS (₹) | 2.18 | 3.66 | 0.93 | -40.4% | 134% |
Now pause. This table shows standalone quarterly volatility, but the company press release for Q3 FY26 reports:
- PAT ₹449 Cr
- Combined Ratio 98.9%
This discrepancy exists because:
- Screener quarterly EPS
