LONDON: Prudential Plc, Britain’s biggest insurer by market value, reported a 13 percent increase in new business profit, spurred by gains in the U.K. and Asia.
The earnings climbed to 1.76 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) in the nine months through September, the company said Tuesday. In the third quarter, group profit was up 14 percent to 574 million pounds.
“This performance reflects strong growth in our Asian and U.K. life operations and continued new business discipline in the U.S.,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Wells said in the statement. “Prudential has continued to make good progress.”
Sales on an annual premium equivalent basis rose 14 percent to 4.1 billion pounds in the nine-month period, the statement showed. The shares dropped 1 percent to 1533.5 pence at 8:31 a.m. in London, lowering their gain this year to 2.8 percent.
Wells was promoted to group CEO in June following Tidjane Thiam’s move to Credit Suisse Group AG. Since his appointment, he’s presided over a number of changes at the insurer including the surprise departure of Jackie Hunt, who was CEO of the U.K. unit, after just two years. She resigned last month.
The U.K. business reported a 16 percent jump in new business profit to 231 million pounds in the nine-month period, while M&G, Prudential’s asset management unit, reported a 5 percent drop in third-party funds to 127.3 billion pounds following net outflows from its retail clients.
