Axa slips into loss
Posted: 14:16 Fri 20 Feb 2009
It would not surprise me if Axa were to attempt to sell non-core assets. Even if not now, starting later this year.The FT, in an article entitled [url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/78a36b76-fe88-11dd-b19a-000077b07658.html]Axa slips into first loss in seven years[/url], wrote:Axa, Europe’s second-largest insurance group, reported its first interim loss for seven years on Thursday, slashed its 2008 dividend and prepared for a possible increase in capital.
The French insurer is to ask shareholders to approve the issue of up to €2bn ($2.5bn) in preference shares, which Henri de Castries, chief executive, insisted was ‟an insurance policy” that would only be used as a last resort to bolster the balance sheet.
‟The macroeconomic picture is unclear. Our business is to manage risks, so we want a tool kit with all the tools in the box in case we need them. It doesn’t mean we will do it. At this stage, we don’t think we need it,” he said.
