New Delhi, July 16 -- Investors looking to bet on the growing demand for retail health insurance products, might prefer standalone health insurance (SAHI) companies over ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co., going by the latter's dismal June quarter (Q1FY27) results that dragged the stock down over 10% to Rs.1,610.

What explains the disappointment?

To be sure, ICICI Lombard's retail health business delivered a standout performance. Gross direct premium income (GDPI) from retail health under its flagship Elevate product surged 69.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs.718 crore in Q1FY27, comfortably outpacing the industry's 31.6% growth.

Still, the company's overall GDPI growth was muted at 7.5% y-o-y to Rs.8,318 crore, thanks to a steep 32% dro...