Insurer AXA warns of 2020 earnings hit but hopes new strategy will improve performance

PARIS (Reuters) - AXA, Europe's second-biggest insurer, warned on Tuesday of a hit to its 2020 results as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but hoped a new strategic plan would improve results further down the line.

AXA said it hoped to have underlying earnings per share on a compound annual growth rate of 3-7% between 2020-2023, and an underlying return on equity between 13-15% over the same period.

"AXA's earnings are expected to be materially adversely impacted in 2020 in the context of Covid-19, as previously communicated. At the same time, 2020 has shown the relevance of AXA's strategic vision, its solidity, and the tremendous engagement of our people and partners," said CEO Thomas Buberl.

Axa did not give detailed projections for its 2020 performance.

Axa sees revenues in its health business in Europe growing by 5% at least a year between 2020 and 2023.

In recent years, the group has left markets where it lacks scale as part of a deep restructuring to cope with a negative interest rate environment.

The company said on Monday it has agreed to sell its insurance businesses in the Gulf region to Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) for $269 million.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Louise Heavens and Sarah White)