Axa revenue slips 3.1 percent in first 9 months

PARIS - French insurer Axa SA said its revenue slipped 3.1 percent in the nine months to September 30 on a steep drop in sales of life insurance and savings products in the U.S. and Britain.

Axa reported sales of 69.5 billion euros ($89.5 billion) for the period, down from 71.7 billion euros a year earlier. Excluding foreign exchange and acqusitions and divestments changes, sales were down only 0.9 percent in the period, Axa said. That represents a slight improvement from the 0.4 percent decline reported in the first six months of the year.

Europe's largest insurer by market capitalization said life and savings sales fell 17.3 percent in the United States and 21.8 percent in Britain in the first nine months of the year. Life and savings sales were also down 4.8 percent in Axa's home market, but growth in other regions of the world left total life and savings revenue down 2.6 percent at 43.8 billion euros ($56.37 billion).

Axa's nearly trillion-euro asset management business suffered in the period as the financial crisis led to outflows of assets under management. Revenues from that business dropped 15.5 percent in the nine-month period. Axa's property and casualty insurance business benefited from solid growth in France, lifting total sales for the division 2 percent to 20 billion euros ($25.7 billion).

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