AXA 2003 Revenues Fall to $89 Billion on Dollar Weakness

France’s AXA Group reported total revenues for 2003 of 71.628 billion euros ($89.18 billion) compared to 74.727 billion euros ($93 billion) in 2002. The company said the decrease reflected its decision to exit certain less profitable lines of business, as well as the sharp fall in the value of the dollar in 2003.

The company’s report cited the following highlights:
— Life & Savings revenues increased by 8.5 percent to Euro 46.8 billion ($58.27 billion), due to strong sales in the US, Belgium and Germany, as well as France and Japan. Momentum increased during 4Q03 in Asia, especially in Japan and Hong-Kong.
— Growth in Property & Casualty revenues expanded by 4.0 percent to Euro 17.1 billion ($21.3 billion), as the Group continued to expand its franchise in personal lines, while commercial lines benefited from targeted rate increases and cancellations.
— Positive net inflows of Euro 20 billion ($$25 billion) and favorable equity markets led to a 17.2 percent increase in Assets Under Management (AUM) from year-end 2002 to Euro 668 billion ($832 billion) at December 31, 2003. Though daily average equity index levels remained below prior year, Asset Management revenues were flat at Euro 2.9 billion ($3.61 billion). 4Q03 revenues improved by 18.5 percent.
— As expected, International Insurance revenues decreased by 10.9 percent, primarily driven by the planned reinsurance revenue decline of 17.7 percent (- 44.9 percent including the US reinsurance run-off and foreign exchange impacts), following the repositioning of AXA RE. AXA Corporate Solutions Insurance revenues declined by 3.9 percent as rate increases and targeted growth in France were offset by voluntary reduced exposure to selected business lines.

“The restructuring efforts that we have made, combined with an improved global economy, have enabled the Group to achieve good growth in Life & Savings and for the first time in several years, to achieve positive net inflows in most of our continental Property & Casualty personal lines business,” commented CEO Henri de Castries. “In addition, we see very positive signs in asset management, and in the Asia-Pacific region where growth is improving. We also see encouraging signs on unit-linked activities which now represent 32 percent of total revenues. “2003 will show that we have made very solid progress in terms of operating efficiency and that we have a stronger platform than ever to further develop growth “