FRENCH insurance giant Axa yesterday vowed to buy back €1bn (£836m) worth of its own shares after an uptick in earnings, driven by higher incomes from its investment portfolio, offset a €300m hit to its business from the war in Ukraine.

In reflecting its "robust performance," Europe's second biggest insurer set out plans to repurchase €1bn worth of its own shares from shareholders by February 2023.

Axa's plan comes after the firm posted underlying earnings of €3.9bn in the first half of 2022, up four per cent compared to the previous year.

News of the insurer's decision to launch its €1bn share buyback scheme saw shares in the French firm surge by almost five per cent in yesterday's early morning trading session.

The Parisian insurer's "strong" first half results came after the firm's gross revenues for the first six months of 2022 increased by one per cent compared to the first half of last year, to heights of more than €55.1bn.

Axa's higher revenues came on the back of a two per cent uptick in the insurance firm's investment incomes, which saw it reap €6.2bn from its €887bn portfolio of investments in the first half of 2022.

Losses from Axa's aviation insurance business acted as the main source of the €300m hit the insurer has taken from the conflict in Ukraine.

The firm reported it had bolstered the reserves of capital it is required to hold to protect itself against bankruptcy, as it said its Solvency II ratio currently sits at rates of 227 per cent.

Axa chief executive Thomas Buberl said the insurer's Solvency II ratio puts it in a "strong position" to navigate any "market volatility" as he claimed the insurer was confident in its ability to deliver "underlying earnings per share growth at the high end of our target range".

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper