AXA Gulf on aggressive expansion plans, opens 2nd outlet in Oman

AXA Gulf on aggressive expansion plans,
opens 2nd outlet in Oman

Company named the best insurer in Sultanate of Oman

AXA Gulf, the largest international non-life company in the GCC, has announced the opening of its second outlet in the Sultanate of Oman. The opening of the company’s new outlet, in Muscat City Centre in the Omani capital, is part of its aggressive growth plans in the country and the region.

The new outlet in Muscat City Centre, offers the entire gamut of retail products available at the AXA Gulf branches across the region, including applying for or renewing of Motor, Home, Travel, Home Help, Golf, Personal Accident and other retail insurance. The company’s outlets in Muscat, at Qurum City Centre operational since 2008 and the new one at Muscat City Centre, are open from 10 am to 10 pm (except Friday which is from 2 pm to 10 pm).

In his comments, Deepak Kamath, Country Manager of AXA Gulf Oman, said: “AXA has been steadily growing in the Sultanate of Oman, and we work with all stakeholders and partners to make our products available to all sections – corporates, SME's, individuals and families. With Muscat city expanding in all directions, we are looking at expanding strategically to enable customers to access our service centers at a convenient place and time where they can combine insurance transactions with other leisure activities.”

He added: “We opened our first outlet at Qurum City Center in late 2008 to strengthen our branch network at Al Khuwair and Sohar. Following the excellent response to this outlet, and on our customers’ request for easy access in the Seeb and Mawaleh region, we have now launched our second outlet at Muscat City Center.”

Said Alexis de Beauregard, Chief Officer Marketing & Retail product offering, “Our strategy is to get closer to our customers and to be available whenever they need us – not only to insure but in the unfortunate event of a claim. Going forward, we have plans to launch internet insurance, online assistance and call center facilities so that our customers can reach us any time of the day or night.”

The opening of the new outlet marked a major period of achievement for AXA Gulf in Oman, after the company was named the number one insurer in Oman in ‘Best Brands in Oman’ survey conducted by Business Today – Oman’s leading business magazine, with the International Marketing Research Consultancy [IMRC]. This recognition is a major achievement for AXA Gulf, considering that the company was ranked seventh when the last survey was conducted in 2008. The ‘Best Brands in Oman’ survey across 15 categories was judged by over 600 executives including CEOs, General Managers and executives from a cross section of Oman’s business community.

Expressing his excitement on the Best Insurer recognition, Mr Kamath said: “We are extremely honoured to be rated the best brand in Oman. This customer recognition confirms that we are on the right track to becoming the preferred company and that our efforts to provide customers with products and services that meet their needs and expectations have paid off. The honour goes out to all my colleagues for their efforts and dedication, and their high standards of service and professionalism. Now we have to double our efforts and keep our focus on service excellence to maintain this achievement.”

The best insurer recognition in Oman reaffirms the message of trust, excellence of service and quality of insurance solutions that AXA Gulf is offering to its large and expanding customer base.

About AXA Gulf
With a workforce of over 700 employees, 12 offices region-wide, serving a customer base over a half million customers and a gross written premium of over US$ 480 million, AXA is a major international insurer in the Middle East offering a wide range of insurance products and services for corporate and individual customers

About AXA Group
AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. For full year 2009, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro90.1bn and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro3.9bn. AXA had Euro1,014bn in assets under management as of December 31, 2009. The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISIN FR0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). The American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA.

For additional information, please contact:
Alexis de Beauregard/ Lianne Braganza-D’Sylva
AXA Gulf Marketing,
Tel: +971 4 4453850/ 4453854
Alexis.debeauregard@axa-gulf.com, lianne.dsylva@axa-gulf.com

About AXA Group
AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. For full year 2009, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro90.1bn and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro3.9bn. AXA had Euro1,014bn in assets under management as of December 31, 2009. The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISIN FR0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). The American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA.

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This release was published on openPR.