Insurer AXA to restructure Swiss unit, resulting in one-off H1 negative hit

PARIS (Reuters) - French insurer AXA said it would restructure its Swiss arm, in a move that would result in a negative hit to net income of around 400 million Swiss francs ($418.15 million) in the first half of 2018, but produce better returns in the longer run.

AXA, Europe's second-biggest insurer by market value behind Allianz, said it would transform its Swiss Group Life insurance business unit to a semi-autonomous model.

AXA said this move would result in a temporary reduction in its underlying earnings of around 20 million euros from 2019, and a one-time negative impact in net income of around 400 million Swiss francs in the first half of 2018.

However, it added the change was also expected to lead to a release of local risk capital requirements of around 2.5 billion Swiss francs in 2019 and an enhanced cash remittance to AXA over the next three years, subject to regulatory approvals.

($1 = 0.9566 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Kim Coghill)