AXA Moves to Centralize Procurement; SP Rates Irish Sub ‘BBB’

France’s AXA Group, one of the world’s largest insurers, announced that it aims at optimizing the purchase of goods and services by AXA companies, and described the move as “one of the keys to the operational excellence of the Group.”

This division is under the responsibility of Claude Brunet, member of the Executive Committee of AXA Group, and the effort will be headed by Alain Page-Lecuyer who joined the AXA Group as AXA Chief Procurement Officer on March 11, 2002.

“Alain Page-Lecuyer’s career has been almost exclusively dedicated to procurement in various manufacturing and industrial companies, a sector in which the quality of purchasing is the key to operational and financial performance,” said the announcement. He’s previously served as Procurement Officer for companies such as Alcatel, Sagem and Renault.

In other news related to AXA, Standard & Poor’s announced that it had assigned interactive ratings to Ireland-based non-life insurer AXA Insurance Ltd. (AXA Ireland) its Triple-‘B’ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings with a stable outlook.

AXA Ireland is a wholly owned subsidiary of the AXA group, whose main operating subsidiaries are rated AA/Negative by S&P. It was previously assigned public information (“pi”) ratings. The change indicates that S&P now has the preferred access to accounts that it requires to dispense with the “pi” designation.

S&P commented that “AXA Ireland’s operating performance can only be regarded as satisfactory despite the significant improvement expected for 2001, with the combined ratio reaching approximately 107.9%. Operating performance was very weak in 1999 and 2000, with combined ratios at 120.8% and 129.1%, respectively, as a result of accelerating bodily injury claims, as well as previously inadequate pricing and risk selection”

It forecast improvements in results for 2001 with positive net income of € 9.3 million ($8.2 million), and noted that “although a more sustained recovery in earnings is required to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new management team. The company’s business position is expected to remain strong. AXA Ireland is expected to maintain a market share of approximately 17% and its dominance in the direct market.”|”axa, moves, centralize, procurement;, sp, rates, irish, sub, ‘bbb’