AXA profit surge 2%, helped by weaker euro

AXA SA CS reported Tuesday a 2% rise in net profit in the first half of the year, helped by a weaker euro.

Europe’s second-largest insurer by market value said net profit increased to 3.08 billion euros ($3.37 billion) in the six months to the end of June from EUR3.01 billion a year ago.

Discounting the effect of foreign-exchange fluctuations, AXA said it would have recorded a 7% decline in net profit over the period.

Life and savings annual premium equivalent, known as APE, was up 16% at the end of June. APE measures new business growth for life insurance by combining the value of payments on new regular premium policies, and 10% of the value of payments made on one-time, single-premium products.

The company said its solvency ratio–a key measure of an insurance company’s financial strength–was 258% at the end of June, down from 266% at the end of December.

Source: MarkeWatch