AXA reports 2004 IFRS results
News,
Group, June 21, 2005
AXA has reported its 2004 results under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") principles. These results are audited and have been prepared in accordance with the IFRS and IFRIC (International Financial Reporting Interpretation Committee) interpretations issued and effective or early adopted as of June 2005.
AXA has applied the amendment to IAS 39 regarding the fair value option issued by the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) on June 16, 2005 and the amendment to IAS 19 regarding employee benefits approved by the ARC (Accounting Regulatory Committee). Both amendments are expected to be formally endorsed by the European Commission in the second half of 2005. The IFRS standards and IFRIC interpretations that will be applicable at December 31, 2005, including those that will be applicable on an optional basis, are not known with certainty at this time.
See also...
- Shareholders' equity at December 31, 2004 amounts to Euro 28.5 billion under IFRS, compared to Euro 26.2 billion under French GAAP (FGAAP);
- 2004 underlying earnings (1): Euro 2.6 billion under IFRS, compared to Euro 2.7 billion under FGAAP;
- 2004 adjusted earnings (1): Euro 3.3 billion under IFRS, compared to Euro 2.9 billion under FGAAP;
- 2004 net income: Euro 3.7 billion under IFRS, compared to Euro 2.5 billion under FGAAP;
- AXA's dividend policy is unchanged: dividend is expected to represent 40% to 50% of IFRS adjusted earnings starting year-end 2005;
- 2004 P&C combined ratio stands at 98.5% under IFRS, compared to 99.3% under FGAAP;
- Gearing at December 31, 2004 is 42% under IFRS versus 39% under FGAAP, well within our comfort zone.
(1) Underlying earnings are adjusted earnings, excluding net capital gains attributable to shareholders.
Adjusted earnings represent net income before the impact of exceptional operations, goodwill and related intangibles amortization/impairments, and profit or loss on financial assets under the fair value option and derivatives. Adjusted and underlying earnings are non-GAAP measures and as such are not audited, and they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Management uses these non-GAAP measures as key indicators of performance in assessing AXA's various businesses and believes that the presentation of these measures provides useful and important information to shareholders and investors as measures of AXA's financial performance.