Insurer AXA reports lower 2018 net profit after IPO costs and natural disasters

PARIS (Reuters) - AXA, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, said on Thursday that its 2018 net profit fell from a year ago as a result of charges related to its U.S. unit's initial public offering (IPO) and the impact of a spate of natural disasters.

Net profit fell 66 percent from a year earlier to 2.14 billion euros (1.9 billion pounds), below the 2.47 billion expected by analysts polled by Infront Data for Reuters.

Natural disasters cost AXA about 2 billion euros in 2018, of which 600 million euros corresponded to hurricane Michael in the U.S. and wildfires in California during the fourth quarter.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)