Axa Asia-Pacific has ambitious goals for Australasian units

At its annual strategy conference held in late November 2007,
Axa Asia-Pacific (AAP), a 53 percent-owned subsidiary of French
insurer Axa, unveiled Ambition 2012, a bold set of expansion
targets it has set itself for its units in Australia and New
Zealand between 2008 and 2012. Among key targets during the
five-year period are the doubling of both the enterprise value and
new business volumes of both units, and the lowering of the
Australian unit’s cost-income ratio by 25 percent and that of the
New Zealand unit by 15 percent.

“These targets represent a significant stretch for our
Australian and New Zealand businesses and achieving them will drive
strong growth over the next five years,” said AAP’s group chief
executive, Andrew Penn.

Ambition 2012 follows in the wake of a four-year expansion strategy
that ran between 2003 and the end of 2007. One of the key
objectives of the four-year strategy was to increase the enterprise
value of the Australian and New Zealand units by 65 percent by the
end of 2007. This goal was achieved in December 2006. Other goals
included doubling the value of new business and reducing the cost
to income ratio by a third. These two goals were achieved during
the course of 2007. “We have established a reputation as a company
that sets clear and challenging targets, communicates them
transparently and holds ourselves accountable for their delivery,”
said Penn.

In the six months to June 2007, AAP’s Australian and New Zealand
units reported total operating earnings of A$266 million ($231
million), a 21 percent increase compared with the first half of
2006. The value of in-force business and total funds under
management, administration and advice both increased by 10 percent
to A$3.61 billion and A$93.7 billion, respectively.

During the six months to June 2007, the Australian and New Zealand
units generated just over one-half of AAP’s total operating
earnings of A$266.2 million. Axa Hong Kong, a wholly owned
subsidiary of AAP, generated operating earnings of A$123.2 million
while equity accounted investments in insurers in seven other
countries in Asia produced a combined loss of A$200,000. During the
six months, AAP return on average shareholder equity was 19.8
percent.