Prudential sees profits surge to £1.97 billion

Company plans to boost its dividend amid strong growth for first nine months of the year

Insurance News

By Paul Lucas

British insurance giant Prudential Plc has gone from strength to strength after announcing a surge in profits during the first nine months of the year.

The company has seen new business profits climb by 19% over the period, driven in part by a leap in Asian business. According to a Reuters report, the company, which serves around 24 million customers and has £562 billion in assets under management, saw new business profit reach £1.97 billion – that’s up from £1.66 billion one year earlier.

The rise in new business profit was largely prompted by retail sales in its British life insurance business, which reached £179 million; while in Asia new business profit leapt by 34% on an actual exchange rate basis to reach £1.31 billion. APE sales also increased by 25%.

In the US, meanwhile, business slumped by 13% to stand at £485 million. The blame was largely placed on the Department of Labor tightening rules around the sale of variable annuities that offer a variable rate of income above the guaranteed minimum level.

As of the end of October, the group’s Solvency II surplus stood at £11.5 billion – marking a capital ratio of 189%, up from 175% as of the end of June.


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