There is cause for a double celebration at AXA today as the company announced eye-catching results both for its group and for AXA UK & Ireland.
AXA Group saw its revenues pass €100 billion for the first time with underlying earnings growing by 3% to stand at €5.7 billion in spite of low interest rates and market volatility.
Speaking to the Financial Times on the back of the results, chief executive Thomas Buberl also addressed the rumoured acquisition of Generali but distanced the group from such deals.
“Small M&A makes no sense, but very large M&A makes no sense either, as we already have global scale,” he said.
Closer to home, there was success for AXA in the UK and Ireland too with underlying earnings increasing by 12% to stand at £263 million. Overall revenue grew by 8.1% to stand at £4.4 billion although COR grew slightly to 97.3%, compared to 97.1% one year earlier.
The firm saw PPP healthcare revenues climb by 4.8% to £1.5 billion, commercial lines leap by 10% to £1.1 billion and personal lines up 5.4% to £1.2 billion. According to group CEO for AXA UK & Ireland Amanda Blanc, the results show that the company is not resting on its laurels but is also taking advantage of the opportunities ahead.
“I am very pleased at the breadth of success across business lines and business units as the diversity provides an inherent strength,” she explained.
“Our financial performance allows us to continue investing in innovative ideas and technologies that change the way people interact with insurance. Existing investments in initiatives such as Trov (on demand contents insurance), Biobeats (workplace wellbeing app), Doctor@hand (providing access to GP’s digitally) and eServe (claims tracking tool for customers and brokers) are paying huge dividends and changing the way our customers perceive our role as an insurer.”
In tomorrow’s Insurance Business we will bring you an interview with Amanda Blanc discussing the role of brokers in AXA’s future, what they can do to remain relevant and the challenges and opportunities for 2017.
