France’s AXA Q1 sales rise 2% as property policy demand grows

PARIS (Reuters) -AXA, Europe’s second-biggest insurance company, said first quarter sales rose 2% from the same period a year earlier, as growth of its property and casualty policies offset a fall in revenue from savings products in France and Italy.

Group revenue over the three-month period ending in March amounted to 31.8 billion euros ($35.01 billion), up from 31.2 billion euros, the French insurer said in a statement.

First-quarter revenue from property and casualty policies were up 5%, while life insurance policies fell, dragged down by a 9% drop from lower premiums in savings-related products.

The French insurer said it expected to yield more than 7.5 billion euros in underlying earnings this year, up from 6.1 billion euros in 2022, under new restated 2022 figures after the implementation of a new set of accounting standards.

The group’s solvency II ratio – a measure of its capital strength under the EU risk-measurement rules for insurers – stood at 217% at end-March, up 2 percentage points versus end-2022, driven by strong operational return.

AXA confirmed its 2023 financial targets.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Matthieu Protard;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Kim Coghill)