AXA (EPA:CS) - AXA: Investor Day - Press release

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28/11/2018 08:45

Press release

Paris, November 28, 2018

AXA holds its 2018 Investor Day

AXA is hosting today an Investor Day in London. The following topics will be
presented:

* AXA Asia - Gordon Watson, CEO of AXA in Asia, will present his vision and
  strategy for AXA in Asia where he has attracted local and experienced talents
  to increase focus on Agency, Health, Brand and China

* AXA XL - Greg Hendrick, CEO of AXA XL, will present his vision and
  priorities, for the newly created AXA XL entity, built around portfolio
  optimization, profitable growth and volatility management and will share
  increased synergy targets, an earnings outlook for 2020 and an update on the
  2018 natural catastrophe environment

* Capital management - Gérald Harlin, Deputy CEO and Group CFO, will provide a
  financial update, notably AXA's new capital management policy, with an
  increased dividend payout range

"AXA has made significant progress on its Focus and Transform strategy in 2018.
The simplification of the Group is delivering strong operational results and
our transformation initiatives are further enhancing the already attractive
profile of the Group", said Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer of AXA.

"In just 9 months, Gordon has attracted some of the best leaders in Asia with
significant local expertise to propel AXA to become the next insurer of choice
in the region. We have a clear strategy to grow and create value in Asia, by
transforming our distribution with an increased focus on agency, pivoting
towards Health and well-being, strengthening AXA's brand recognition in the
region and accelerating in China, with full control of AXA Tianping."

"We have taken a major leap in shifting the profile of the Group by completing
the acquisition of XL Group. AXA XL, under the leadership of Greg, has a clear
vision for growth, as the most admired global commercial lines partner, known
for innovative solutions and superior client service. The AXA XL leadership
team has identified key levers to deliver strong value creation through
profitable growth, in alignment with the AXA Group risk appetite."

"The progress made in transforming the Group's profile, along with our
confidence in continued strong operational delivery across all geographies, has
led us to review our capital management policy; notably increasing our dividend
payout ratio range and lowering the upper bound of our Solvency II ratio target
range. These changes, introduced by Gerald today, demonstrate our commitment to
sustainable value creation for our shareholders."

"AXA's vision and direction are clear, and we are focused on execution. I have
full confidence in the strong drive and commitment of our teams to continue to
deliver on our strategy as we position AXA to grow and thrive in this new age
of insurance."

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Key Ambition 2020 financial targets update:

* AXA Asia
  o 6% to 8% Annual Premium Equivalent(1) (APE) CAGR(2) 2018-2020
  o 8% to 12% New Business Value(1) (NBV) CAGR(2) 2018-2020

* AXA XL
  o Combined ratio(3) at ca. 95% by 2020, assuming normalized natural
    catastrophes of ca. 4 points
  o Increased annual earnings synergies to USD 0.5 billion, previously USD 0.4
    billion
  o Underlying earnings(4) of ca. Euro 1.4 billion by 2020, assuming normalized
    natural catastrophes

* AXA's new capital management policy (effective as of FY18)
  o Increased dividend payout ratio range: 50% to 60%(5), previously 45% to 55%
  o New Solvency II ratio(6) target range: 170% to 220%, previously 170% to
   230%
  o Updated share buyback guidance: additional flexibility on share buyback
    even within the Solvency II ratio(6) target range

* Increased Ambition 2020 Adjusted ROE(4) target: 14% - 16%, previously 12% -
  14%

* Debt gearing(1) target range of 25%-28% by 2020 reaffirmed

* Ambition 2020 underlying earnings per share (UEPS(1)) CAGR reaffirmed at
  3%-7%

* Ambition 2020 cumulative Operating Free Cash Flow1 reaffirmed at Euro 28-32
billion

(1) APE, NBV, debt gearing, underlying earnings per share (UEPS) and operating
free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. For further information, please
refer to "Important legal information and cautionary statements concerning
forward-looking statements" on the last page of this press release.
(2) On a comparable basis
(3) Consistent with AXA's definition, combined ratio is based on a gross earned
premiums. Combined ratio is defined in the Glossary set forth in Appendix V to
AXA's Registration Document (pp. 433-437).
(4) Underlying earnings, adjusted earnings and adjusted ROE are alternative
performance measures. For further information, please refer to "Important legal
information and cautionary statements concerning forward-looking statements" on
the last page of this press release.
(5) Of adjusted earnings net of undated debt interest charges. For further
information, please refer to "Important legal information and cautionary
statements concerning forward-looking statements" on the last page of this
press release.
(6) The Solvency II ratio is estimated primarily using AXA's internal model
calibrated based on an adverse 1/200 years shock and assuming US equivalence.
For further information on AXA's internal model and Solvency II disclosures,
please refer to AXA Group's SFCR for the year ended December 31, 2017,
available on AXA's website (www.axa.com). As in previous disclosures all AXA US
entities are taken into account assuming US equivalence. As regards XL
entities, AXA's intention is to use equivalence for these entities, until the
extension of the AXA Group internal model to XL operations is approved by AXA's
lead supervisor (ACPR). The intended use of equivalence as an interim
integration method of XL entities in AXA Group's Solvency II ratio is under
review by ACPR.

ABOUT THE AXA GROUP

The investor presentation will start at 09:00 am London time at AXA XL offices
                 at: 20 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0BG

Supporting documents will be available at 07:45 am London time and live webcast
               will start at 09:00 am London time on the AXA website:
              https://www.axa.com/en/newsroom/events/investor-day-2018

                           Conference call dial-in details:

             +33 1 72 72 74 03 / +44 207 194 3759 / +1 646 722 4916

                                Pin code: 11723238#
The webcast will be available for immediate replay, and an audio replay of the
presentation will be available on the AXA website the following day.

ABOUT THE AXA GROUP

The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with
160,000 employees serving 105 million clients in 62 countries. In 2017, IFRS
revenues amounted to Euro 98.5 billion and underlying earnings to Euro 6.0
billion. AXA had Euro 1,439 billion in assets under management as of December
31, 2017.

The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the
ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA).
AXA's American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the
ticker symbol AXAHY.

The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow
Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.

It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative
(UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN
Principles for Responsible Investment.

This press release and the regulated information made public by AXA pursuant to
article L. 451-1-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and articles 222-1
et seq. of the Autorité des marchés financiers' General Regulation are
available on the AXA Group website (axa.com).

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS AVAILABLE ON THE AXA GROUP WEBSITE axa.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Investor Relations:               +33.1.40.75.48.42
Andrew Wallace-Barnett:           +33.1.40.75.46.85
François Boissin:                 +33.1.40.75.39.82
Aayush Poddar:                    +33.1.40.75.59.17
Shantanu Priya:                   +33.1.40.75.58.44
Mathias Schvallinger:             +33.1.40.75.39.20
Alix Sicaud:                      +33.1.40.75.56.66

Individual Shareholder Relations: +33.1.40.75.48.43

Media Relations:                  +33.1.40.75.46.74
Julien Parot:                     +33.1.40.75.59.80
Nicolas Feltrin:                  +33.1.40.75.56.48
Shruti Dhanda:                    +33.1.40.75.72.58
Farah El Mamoune:                 +33.1.40.75.46.68

                 Corporate Responsibility strategy:
             axa.com/en/about-us/strategy-commitments

SRI ratings:
axa.com/en/investor/sri-ratings-ethical-indexes

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS CONCERNING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements
including, but not limited to, statements that are predictions of or indicate
future events, trends, plans, expectations or objectives. Undue reliance should
not be placed on such statements because, by their nature, they are subject to
known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors
that could cause AXA's actual results to differ materially from those expressed
or implied in such forward-looking statements. Please refer to Part 4 - "Risk
Factors and Risk Management" of AXA's Registration Document for the year ended
December 31, 2017 (the "Registration Document"), for a description of certain
important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA's business
and/or results of operations. AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new
information, future events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by
applicable laws and regulations.
In addition, this press release refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures,
or alternative performance measures ("APMs"), used by Management in analyzing
AXA's operating trends, financial performance and financial position and
providing investors with additional information that Management believes to be
useful and relevant regarding AXA's results. These non-GAAP financial measures
generally have no standardized meaning and therefore may not be comparable to
similarly labelled measures used by other companies. As a result, none of these
non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in isolation from, or as a
substitute for, the Group's consolidated financial statements and related notes
prepared in accordance with IFRS. A reconciliation from APMs underlying
earnings and adjusted earnings to the financial statements of the corresponding
period is provided on pages 37 to 39 of the Registration Document and pages 22
to 25 of AXA's half-year financial report for the period ended June 30, 2018
(the "2018 Half-Year Financial Report"). The APM adjusted return on equity
("Adjusted ROE") is reconciled to the financial statements on page 43 of the
Registration Document, and pages 25 and 30 of the 2018 Half-Year Financial
Report. Underlying earnings per share is reconciled to the financial statements
on pages 37 to 39 and 42 of the Registration Document, and pages 22 to 25 and
30 of the 2018 Half-Year Financial Report. The abovementioned and other
non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release, including debt gearing
and combined ratios, are defined in the Glossary set forth in Appendix V to the
Registration Document (pp. 433-437).

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