Berenberg: AXA Poised for Margin Growth Amid 'Clear' Health Business Strategy

07:00 AM EST, 11/10/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg expects AXA (CS.PA) to overshoot its margin targets under its current and subsequent three-year strategic plans, supported by a "clear" strategy at its health business over the 2027 to 2029 period. "We believe that AXA's aim in 2027-29 is to first improve margins by 1% and then to lift growth to 6%. However, thanks to the multitude of measures taken to improve margins, we expect that the health margin will overshoot, and that the health combined ratio will drop to below AXA's c95% strategic plan target in 2027E, when AXA will likely shift the focus back to growth," analysts wrote in a note published Tuesday. "On our forecast, health's contribution to the group's technical margin will rise from 5% in 2025 to 9% in 2026E, and to 11% in 2027E and 2028E." The research firm projects the total contribution of the French insurance group's technical margin will rise to 55% in 2027 from 53% in 2026, before reaching 56% in 2028. Meanwhile, analysts forecast that AXA will see a 10% like-for-like revenue growth in health in 2028. Berenberg's buy recommendation on the stock and price target of 77 euros remain unchanged.