Axa's protection and healthcare business bucked the trend last year in recording increased revenues as its overall company earnings fell 18% to £235m.
The provider's protection sector performed strongly despite the contraction of the mortgage market with new business revenue up 15% (APE).
It claims the launch of an on-line underwriting system for advisers in the summer was partly responsible for this increase.
Meanwhile, the healthcare market enjoyed a more modest overall growth of 4%, although UK personal business fell 5% due to the recession.
UK large corporate and small, medium enterprises (SME) revenues were up 2%, but the majority of healthcare growth came in international markets, particularly in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Nicolas Moreau, group chief executive of AXA UK, said: "Last year brought change at AXA as we sharpened our focus on profitable growth and operational efficiency.
"We have continued to transform the business and healthcare's international business is now performing strongly.
"A real priority for me has been to ensure that we give customers and advisors an excellent service and I believe that we have all the ingredients to succeed," he added.
