French insurer Axa has reported that its net earnings are 48% higher under the new IFRS accounting rules than those posted under the French GAAP standard.
Axa attributed the largely to the absence of goodwill amortization under IFRS, in addition to realized capital gains and the reversal of impairment allowances recorded under FGAAP amounting to Euro 291 million
Shareholders’ equity has also increased from E28.5 billion under IFRS, compared to E26.2 billion under French GAAP, but the dividend policy remains unchanged, with this year’s payment to shareholders expected to be around 50% of IFRS adjusted earnings.
Adjusted earnings for the full year were at E3.344 billion compared to the E2.9 billion originally reported. Underlying earnings were reported to be at E2.6 billion against E2.7 billion, due to changes in how earnings from newly-acquired assets are calculated.
International Financial Reporting Standards are thought to have brought the biggest change in accounting in recent years, with differences between GAAP standards and IFRS greater than many anticipated.