AXA has solid six months
AXA’s latest results for the six months to the end of June this year show a 5 per cent improvement on the corresponding period last year, with an after-tax profit of $130 million.
AXA chief executive Les Owen says that major changes have been made to the structure of the life and funds management giant, with the latest inroads being made through the purchase of an independent financial planning group.
“In Australia and New Zealand we have seen a 50 per cent increase in operating earnings in wealth management and financial protection, a very encouraging result,” Owen says.
“Our recent acquisition of iPac Securities, which builds in our earlier acquisition of Sterling Grace, is positioning us as a leading provider of financial advisory services.”
The group’s profits were achieved despite a 9 per cent drop in investment earnings, which were down to $29 million, which Owen says reflects “falls in global equity markets”.
In the Australia and New Zealand Region, operating earnings for core businesses of financial protection and wealth management were up 50 per cent to $63 million, while investment earnings were slightly up on the corresponding period for the pervious year, from $24 million to $26 million.
Total funds under management grew from $35 billion in June 2001 to $41 billion 12 months later.
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