AXA's Quarterly Gross Written Premiums Rise on Higher Volumes, Pricing

By Elena Vardon

AXA reported a rise in gross written premiums over the first quarter, driven by higher volumes and prices across all its units, and reiterated that it doesn't expect the impact of the Baltimore bridge collapse to be material.

The French insurer and asset manager posted a rise in gross written premiums--which reflect the commercial activity of its insurance operations--and other revenue for the first three months of 2024 to 34.0 billion euros ($36.43 billion). This compares with EUR31.8 billion for the same period last year, it said Thursday.

Gross written premiums and other revenue in its property and casualty line rose 6% to EUR19.8 billion on a reported basis, while that of its life and health line was up 8% to EUR13.8 billion. The result at its asset management division came in at EUR0.4 billion, 3% ahead on year.

On the group's exposure to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Finance chief Alban de Mailly Nesle confirmed that the impact isn't expected to be material at the group level, echoing AXA's statement in the days following the event.

"We estimate the impact of EUR0.1 billion before taxes and after reinsurance on the basis of a total impact of EUR1.5 billion for the industry," de Mailly Nesle said in a call with journalists.

On March 26, a giant cargo ship collided into the bridge, killing six people, and effectively shut down Baltimore's busy port.

The Paris-based company is exposed through its commercial insurance division, AXA XL, which leads a $3.1 billion reinsurance program for insurers of ships.

The executive added that whether the estimated industry impact is higher or lower, AXA's expected impact on its pretax result for the year would remain below EUR100 million.

The company's solvency II ratio--a measure of an insurer's financial strength--was 229% at the end of the quarter, up two percentage points from Dec. 31.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2024 12:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

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