Another element has been thrown into National Australia Bank’s bid for AXA Asia Pacific, with the group upgrading its profit expectations.
AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (AXA APH) believes its 2009 profit is likely to exceed current forecasts, with profit after tax and non-recurring items at about $675 million, according to an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcement released yesterday.
AXA APH will announce its results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2009, on February 17, 2010. The expected profits compare to a loss of $278.7 million in 2008.
Profit after tax and non-recurring items include total group operating earnings of approximately $550 million (compared to $555.6 million in 2008) and investment earnings of approximately $185 million (compared to a $537.7 million loss in 2008), with non-recurring items of $57 million.
AXA APH chief executive officer Andrew Penn said he was pleased with its strong performance: “We have responded well to the impacts of the global financial crisis and the earnings of all our businesses have accelerated since the first half of 2009.”
Operating earnings in Australia and New Zealand are expected to be approximately $205 million (compared to $271.3 million in 2008), which the group stated reflected a much stronger performance in the second half of the year than in the first half. AXA APH noted that average funds under management were approximately 25 per cent lower than 2008 following the global financial crisis, and that 2008 also benefited from capitalised loss reversals at $33 million higher than 2009.
Expected operating earnings in other regions include $330 million in Hong Kong (compared to $290.3 million in 2008) and $50 million in South East Asia ($34.9 million in 2008), with operating losses for the rest of the Asian region expected to be approximately $35 million (compared to a loss of $40.9 million in 2008).
