AXA may slash up to 120 jobs

Insurance and superannuation giant AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd could slash up to
120 full-time staff to curb costs as the global financial market meltdown takes its
toll on the sector.
"We have announced some proposed changes that may result in up to 120 positions
being made redundant," a company spokeswoman told AAP on Tuesday evening.
The positions facing the axe are understood to be mostly Melbourne-based, although a
handful of staff could also be cut from AXA's Sydney-based financial planning
business Ipac.
According to AXA's website, the company employs almost 2,000 staff.
It is understood AXA staff were informed of the proposed job cuts on Tuesday morning.
AXA slashed about 90 positions, mostly contractors, across its Australian operations
late last year.
In February, the company posted a calendar 2008 net loss of $278.7 million, compared
with a net profit of $638.7 million in 2007.
The calendar 2008 loss came on the back of a $539 million loss on investment
earnings from a 40 per cent plunge in global equity markets.
Chief executive Andrew Penn said at the time that 2009 would be "particularly
challenging".
AXA last month raised $500 million from a placement of shares to institutional
investors as part of a plan to raise at least $660 million and as much as $890
million by selling new stock to existing shareholders.
The company need to increase its cash to meet regulatory requirements and repay debt.
Shares in AXA fell 14 cents, or 3.5 per cent, to $3.86 on Tuesday.