AXA profit down amid volatility
Market volatility has hit AXA Asia Pacific, which has posted a 75 per cent decline in profit after tax to $94.2 million despite an 11 per cent increase in operating earnings for the six months ended June 30.
The company’s Australian wealth management and financial protection businesses ended the six month period in good shape, but its New Zealand operations took a significant hit with wealth management down 28 per cent and financial protection down 3 per cent.
Commenting on the result, AXA Asia Pacific chief executive Andrew Penn said that the first half of 2008 could not have been more different from the first half of 2007 and he was therefore pleased to be reporting an 11 per cent increase in group operating earnings.
What is more, Penn indicated that the company’s Australian operations had been a key factor in holding the line, with Australian operating earnings up 22 per cent to $141 million, which he said had been driven by the strong performance of the financial protection business.
He said that the New Zealand market continued to be very challenging, with operating earnings down 11 per cent and the value of new business down 5 per cent.
Looking to the future, Penn said it was difficult to predict how the current market would play out and the full extent of its impact on the economy.
However, he said that in Australia compulsory superannuation enhanced with recent tax changes would continue to provide an important driver.
Penn said that the company’s Genesys acquisition had also increased its profile in the advice sector and that its financial protection business was starting to get real traction.
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Mike Taylor
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