AXA UK has reported a 19% increase in underlying earnings for the general insurance division for 2006 to £150m.
General insurance revenue in the UK rose 9% to £2bn, due primarily to strong growth in personal motor of 42%, with household up 19% and commercial property rising 10%.
AXA UK's health division reported revenues up 8% in 2006 to £887m, with new UK individual contract sales contributing strongly.
As a whole AXA UK reported a 16% increase in underlying earnings up from £266 in 2005 to £308m in 2006.
The marked increase in earnings mirrors the overall performance of the AXA group, which announced an overall increase of 20% to €4bn (£2.69bn).
In Ireland, however, revenues fell 4% to €474m (£318m) as a result of downward pressure on premiums stemming from increased market competition.
Nicolas Moreau, AXA UK group chief executive, said that the group's strong performance provided “the first evidence of the benefits to be gained from the business re-engineering, focused on delivering sustainable earnings and cost control, which we started during the year and will continue during 2007 and beyond.”
He added: “Over recent months, in addition to continuing the consolidation of Winterthur Life into the AXA UK family, we have made strong moves to secure extra distribution capability in the UK market and I am confident that these moves will ensure that our growth momentum will be maintained.
"We will continue to invest in those areas where we can add value both to our current proposition and to our customers.”
