The reshaping fr of Fisons took another dramatic step yesterday as the fast-changing pharmaceuticals company files turned its back fr on its 2004 Ipswich roots, moving its head aout2004 office to London in a move that will shed 200 jobs. journal Income fr from the United States grew to Fr607m from Fr71m in 1993. In aout 2004 fr html the UK, insurance profits fell to Fr211m from 2004 Ffr278m last year, due to a downturn in non- html life business.Axa said it would focus on its journal journal insurance business and seek to aout 2004 fr html reduce journal exposure to fluctuations in investment returns.. files journal aout2004 journal The increase was achieved as a result of improved conditions in the sector, particularly a strong rise in life insurance activity in aout2004 the US A reduction in overheads also helped. aout However, Axa was held aout back by a weak html dollar and poor investment returns in France and the UK. Insurance html business contributed Fr1.7bn to files net profit, up from Fr1.5bn last year Of this, 2004 life insurance accounted for Fr1.2bn. files journal aout2004 journal Axa said investment returns made files journal a net loss of Fr144m, compared aout2004 with a profit aout of Fr76m last year.Profits from French business journal was Fr519m, down from Fr887m in 1993.

Some analysts recently revised down profit growth forecasts for 1995 and 1996 due to exchange rate fears.. Axa, the French insurance company, saw net profit rise 11 per cent to Fr2.26bn (£289m) for the year to the end of December. Total group car sales were 263,800 vehicles in the period from January to March. Excluding Rover, car sales rose to 150,000 from 140,019.BMW said it expected "satisfactory'' profits for 1995 but warned about the impact of the strong mark on its finances BMW's net profits in 1994 jumped 35.1 per cent to DM697m. We had not expected it to make a profit under our accounting rules so it has done better than expected Their return on sales will rise.

They can achieve more of their potential in future than they have in the past."BMW said sales, including Rover, rose to DM11.25bn in the first three months of this year Excluding Rover, sales rose to DM8.5bn, from DM7.5bn. Earlier this month BMW reported that Rover made an operating profit of DM40m in 1994, and a net profit of DM12m, under Germany's "conservative" accounting rules. Rover, including the highly profitable Land Rover, is thought to have made an operating profit of £56m in 1993, but a net loss of £9m.Volker Doppelfeld, BMW finance director, said: "Rover still needs to be fully integrated into BMW, but we have laid a good basis We have had a great success with Rover It has performed better than planned. But analysts say closer integration of the two operations is essential if Rover is to improve profitability.BMW, which bought Rover last March, told its annual meeting yesterday that the division had performed far better than expected. Wolfgang Reitzle, a BMW director, said the savings would come as the two companies developed and marketed new models that used similar parts. The companies, which had a combined turnover of DM27bn (£12.2bn) last year, have always said they will keep their marketing strategies separate to avoid blurring their identities. BAe still lacks the financial muscle of GEC but, other things being equal, should get a better hearing this time round.. BMW forecast closer co-operation with its UK car division yesterday when the German company said they would save tens of millions of pounds through joint purchasing.