Paris - The head of French insurance giant AXA, Henri de Castries, warned Thursday against any panicking about the economic situation and also assured investors that AXA itself was in sound shape.

"We are earning money every day and have never asked anyone for help," the head of Europe's second-largest insurance group said.

AXA had more than enough net assets and it would not now be in the interest of investors to try to seek a capital increase, he said.

Castries noted that in contrast to banks, insurance firms had a long-term horizon and did not constantly need refinancing.

He criticized the "mark to market" practice in which assets are calculated on their value on the day, something which he said was one of the causes of the financial crisis. AXA itself does not publish quarterly figures in the United States because a one-off accounting can be misleading, Castries argued.

The AXA boss said he did support state bail-outs for financial institutes which are relevant to the system. But these should not lead to competitive distortions, he added, referring to the case of the giant AIG concern in the US. (dpa)