AXA Group

On July 1, 50 free shares were allocated to each AXA employee worldwide. More than 100, 000 AXA Group employees in 54 countries, will become shareholders and - depending on the country - will own the shares after two years (with a two year holding period) or after four years (without a holding period), providing they are still employed by AXA.

Approved by AXA's shareholders during the annual shareholder's meeting on May 14, the resolution pertaining to the "AXA Miles" program allows the Management Board to distribute free AXA shares to all AXA employees, representing up to 0.7% of AXA's share capital (or around 14 million shares based on AXA's current share capital).

This allocation of 50 free shares constitutes the first step in the "AXA Miles" program which is one of several key human resources initiatives of AXA's company-wide project "Ambition 2012". The aim of this project is to make AXA the preferred company in its industry of its clients, shareholders and employees by 2012. The success of Ambition 2012 should lead the Group to double its revenues and triple its underlying earnings per share between 2004 and 2012.

Henri de Castries, Chairman of the Management Board of AXA, expressing his willingness to have each and every employee participate in the Group's success, declared: "We want to thank all the employees for their efforts made over the last two years. The key to the success of Ambition 2012 resides in their motivation and engagement."

In 2009, if the Group is still in line with its initial plan - measured by two criteria: the underlying earnings per share and the index of customer satisfaction - the Management Board will allocate 50 additional shares to each AXA employee.