AXA Assicurazioni, nel I° semestre 2023 utile stabile a € 3,8 mld, premi lordi e altri ricavi a € 55,7 mld (+2%)

AXA ha pubblicato i dati relativi ai risultati finanziari consolidati al 30 giugno 2023. Di seguito le principali evidenze.

“AXA delivered another good set of results in the first half of 2023, reflecting the strength of our business model”, said Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer of AXA. “We delivered robust growth in technical lines and achieved an 8%4 increase in underlying earnings per share and a return on equity of 16.6%.”

“We remain focused on executing our strategy, built on two pillars balanced between Commercial and Retail businesses. In P&C Commercial lines, premiums were up 9% and in P&C Retail lines, premiums were up 5%, both benefiting from a favorable pricing environment. We also continued to see good business dynamics in Employee Benefits, and a high-quality mix in our Life & Health Retail business. Today’s announcement6 of the acquisition of Laya, a leading health insurer in Ireland, will further strengthen our business.”

“Our distinctive franchise generated Euro 4.1 billion in underlying earnings, reflecting strong operational performance across our businesses and our ability to deliver consistent results despite a volatile environment. We continue to take actions to sustain attractive margins, including through disciplined pricing. We are on track to achieve our Group underlying earnings target for the year and we are confident in our capacity to deliver longterm revenue and profit growth.”

“The Group has further strengthened its balance sheet with a Solvency II ratio of 235% driven by operating capital generation and disciplined ALM that will further reduce our sensitivity to financial risks. Our asset allocation remains prudent and diversified.”

“We recently announced ambitious new climate targets. For the first time, the Group set decarbonization targets on its P&C Insurance portfolio. We will continue working together with our clients and stakeholders, deploying our resources to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.” 

“I would like to thank all our colleagues, agents and partners for their commitment and support, as well as our customers for their continued trust.”

Activity indicators

Total gross written premiums & other revenues were up 2%, driven by (i) Property & Casualty (+7%), with growth in5 Commercial lines (+9%) from continued favorable price effects as well as higher volumes across the main geographies, and in Personal lines (+5%), driven by favorable price effects, partly offset by the Natural Catastrophe exposure reduction at AXA XL Reinsurance (-3%), in line with the Group’s strategy. This was partly offset by (ii) Life & Health (-3%), with Health down 6% following the non-renewal of two large legacy international Group contracts, and Life down 1%, due to lower premiums in Savings (-5%), mainly in Italy due to challenging market conditions, partly offset by the growth in Protection (+4%), and (iii) Asset Management (-5%), due to lower management fees, reflecting a lower average asset base due to unfavorable market conditions in the second half of 2022. 

Earnings

2022 results were previously reported under the IFRS4 standard that was replaced by IFRS17, which became effective as of January 1, 2023. Compared to 1H22 under IFRS4, underlying earnings increased by 5%, mainly driven by (i) Property & Casualty (+13%), partly offset by (ii) Life & Health (-4%) and (iii) Asset Management (-7%).  Underlying earnings per share increased by 8%4 to Euro 1.79, mainly driven by the increase in underlying earnings (+5%) and the favorable impact of share buy-backs (+3%). 

Compared to 1H22 as restated under IFRS17, underlying earnings increased by 18% to Euro 4.1 billion. The earnings growth was driven by (i) Property & Casualty (+54%), due to a higher claims discount effect, improved undiscounted current year margin and favorable prior years reserve development, partly offset by lower financial result, (ii) Life & Health (-13%), notably from the non-repeat of elevated funds distribution, as well as higher Health claims in the UK, partly offset by a higher CSM release and (iii) Asset Management (-7%), from lower revenues combined with a higher cost-income ratio. 

Net income was stable at Euro 3.8 billion, reflecting a negative change in the fair value of derivatives offset by the increase in underlying earnings. 

Balance sheet

Shareholders’ equity was Euro 45.9 billion as of June 30, 2023, down by Euro 0.2 billion versus December 31, 2022, driven by the FY22 dividend paid to shareholders, and the impact of share buy-backs executed in 1H23, as well as foreign exchange impacts, partly offset by positive net income contribution and change in OCI.

CSM (including P&C)10 was Euro 34.1 billion as of June 30, 2023, up Euro 1.6 billion versus December 31, 2022, as new business contribution (Euro +1.2 billion) combined with underlying return on in-force (Euro +0.8 billion) more than offset the CSM release (Euro -1.5 billion), resulting in a +3.3% underlying annualized growth in CSM. The impact of favorable market conditions (Euro +1.4 billion) was offset by negative operating variance (Euro -0.4 billion) and foreign exchange impacts (Euro -1.0 billion). 

Solvency II ratio was 235% as of June 30, 2023, up 20 points versus December 31, 2022, mainly from (i) a strong operating return (+16 points) net of accrued dividend for 1H23 (-7 points), (ii) management actions (+9 points) notably to further narrow the duration gap, (iii) favorable impact from financial markets (+4 points) mainly from higher equity markets and lower implied volatility, partly offset by lower interest rates, (iv) favorable operating variance (+1 point), and (v) net subordinated debt issuance (+1 point). This was partially offset by (vi) regulatory and model changes (-4 points).

Underlying return on equity was 16.6% as of June 30, 2023, up 2.1 points versus FY22 under IFRS4, notably from higher underlying earnings.

Property & Casualty

Gross written premiums & other revenues were up 7% to Euro 30.4 billion.

• Commercial lines premiums increased by 9% to Euro 18.9 billion, driven by (i) AXA XL Insurance (+8%) reflecting higher volumes in Property and Specialty lines as well as favorable pricing across most lines of business, partly offset by lower premiums in North America Professional lines and continued underwriting discipline in International Casualty, (ii) Asia, Africa & EME-LATAM (+36%), driven by higher new business volume across all geographies as well as favorable price effects, notably in Turkey, (iii) Europe (+8%), both from higher new business volume and favorable price effects across all countries, and (iv) France (+7%), from favorable price effects.
• Personal lines premiums increased by 5% to Euro 9.8 billion, driven by higher premiums in Motor (+7%), from favorable price effects across all countries, with the exception of Switzerland, where pricing is stable, as well as higher new business volume, and Non-Motor (+2%), from favorable price effects, in particular in Europe, partly offset by lower volumes.
• AXA XL Reinsurance premiums decreased by 3% to Euro 1.7 billion, mostly driven by a reduction in Property Cat exposure, in line with the Group’s strategy, partly offset by strong price increases. Casualty and Specialty premiums were higher, mostly from favorable price effects.

The all-year combined ratio was 90.9%, down 5.0 points, reflecting (i) a higher claims discounting effect (-2.5 points vs 1H22), (ii) favorable prior years reserve development (-1.6 points), which, at -0.6%, is positioned at the lower end of the guidance, and (iii) lower natural catastrophe charges (-1.0 point). The undiscounted current year loss ratio excluding Nat Cat (-0.4 point) improved reflecting the impact of higher pricing and the non-repeat of the impact of the war in Ukraine, partly offset by higher large losses, including the impact of social unrest in France. The Group continues to maintain a prudent approach to reserving. 

P&C underlying earnings were up 54% to Euro 2.7 billion, driven by a higher technical margin, partly offset by a lower financial result from a higher impact of insurance finance expenses.

Life & Health

Gross written premiums & other revenues were down 3% to Euro 24.5 billion.

• Life premiums decreased by 1% mainly driven by lower sales of traditional G/A13 products (-11%), in line with the Group’s strategy. Unit-linked sales were down (-16%) due to challenging market conditions, notably in Italy and France, largely offset by higher sales of capital-light G/A Savings products (+11%), notably driven by the continued success of Eurocroissance (+80%) in France. Protection revenues were higher (+4%), notably in Japan, Hong Kong, and Switzerland.
• Health premiums decreased by 6% following the non-renewal of two large legacy international Group contracts in France. Excluding the impact of those contracts, Health premiums increased by 7%, with continued growth across most geographies, primarily from favorable pricing effects.

Present value of expected premiums (PVEP) was down 9% to Euro 23.3 billion, driven by the impact of the increase in interest rates, partly offset by higher volumes, notably in Hong Kong, as well as favorable change in persistency assumptions in France.

NBV (post-tax) was down 7% to Euro 1.2 billion. Other NBV excluding NB CSM (post-tax) was down 26% to Euro 0.4 billion, mainly driven by short-term Protection from lower volumes in run-off portfolios in France as well from Switzerland.  NB CSM (pre-tax) was up by 2% to Euro 1.2 billion, primarily driven by Health (+29%), mainly from favorable pricing effects in Switzerland, G/A Savings (+8%), notably from a favorable change in business mix towards Eurocroissance product in France, partly offset by Protection (-7%) mainly in Switzerland. 

NBV margin increased by 0.1 point to 5.1%, mainly driven by favorable market conditions, partly offset by the impact of both model and assumption changes. 

Net flows amounted to Euro -2.3 billion, driven by (i) G/A13 Savings (Euro -5.2 billion) reflecting outflows in traditional G/A across most geographies, in line with the Group’s strategy, as well as (ii) Unit-Linked (Euro -0.3 billion), primarily in France and Italy. This was partly offset by (ii) Protection (Euro +2.5 billion), mostly in Japan, Hong Kong, and France, and (iii) Health (Euro +0.7 billion), mainly in Germany, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Life & Health underlying earnings decreased by 13% to Euro 1.6 billion, mainly reflecting (i) lower financial result from nonrepeat of elevated funds distribution in 2022, (ii) lower technical profitability in Health due to higher private medical insurance claims in the UK, partly offset by (iii) higher CSM release, in line with expectations, reflecting underlying growth in CSM (+3.3% annualized).

Asset Management

Average assets under management decreased by 4% to Euro 736 billion, reflecting unfavorable market effects in 2022.

Asset Management net flows amounted to Euro -7 billion, with outflows from AXA Insurance companies (Euro -12 billion), partly offset third-party clients (Euro +8 billion), in AXA IM Core (Euro +4 billion) and in AXA IM Alts (Euro +3 billion).

Asset Management revenues decreased by 5% to Euro 0.7 billion, mainly driven by lower management fees, reflecting a lower average asset base.

Underlying cost income ratio increased by 3.7 points to 68.7%, reflecting the impact of lower revenues.

Asset Management underlying earnings were down 7% to Euro 0.2 billion.

Holdings

Holdings underlying earnings were down Euro 37 million to Euro -0.4 billion, mainly driven by an increase in debt financing charges and the non-repeat of the positive impact related to the settlement of tax litigations at AXA S.A.