Insurer Prudential (PRU.L) showed good performance in their first half results released today. H1 profit was boosted 17% as the US and Asian arms of the business helped offset a weaker UK performance as a result of government annuity legislation changes.
In the US the life insurance business showed an increased operating profit, up 28% to £686Million.
In Asia, the company renewed a long standing partnership with Standard Chartered (STAN.L) for another 15 years and operating profit was up 15%.
In the UK the operating profit was up 10% despite lower annuity sales after government changes.
Chief Executive, commenting said
“We are making progress towards our 2017 growth and cash objectives, which we set out at the December 2013 investor day in London.
In the first half of 2014 we faced some challenges with significant and sudden depreciation of the currencies in some of our ‘sweet spot’ markets, a lower US dollar and significant disruption in the UK life and pension market where annuities sales decreased markedly following the Budget announcement. In addition, a number of geopolitical developments created additional uncertainty. Against this difficult backdrop, our businesses in Asia, the US and the UK have delivered a strong performance.
Looking ahead, outside the Eurozone, which continues to grapple with significant, unresolved economic and political challenges, GDP growth is forecast to accelerate in the US and the UK. Growth in the emerging economies of Asia is expected to continue outpacing growth in the advanced economies. The fundamentals for our businesses in Asia remain compelling – strong economic growth and significant and rising demand for insurance from a rapidly growing and increasingly prosperous middle class, which is under-insured. This is what we call the Asian ‘protection gap’.
The broad-based and resilient financial performance we achieved in the first half of 2014 is evidence of (i) the strength we derive from our diversification across geographies, channels and products; (ii) the quality of our strategy; and (iii) our focus on disciplined execution and delivery.
We remain confident in our ability to produce profitable growth over the long term and continue to create value for our customers and shareholders.”
Insurer Prudential (PRU.L) showed good performance in their first half results released today. H1 profit was boosted 17% as the US and Asian arms of the business helped offset a weaker UK performance as a result of government annuity legislation changes.
In the US the life insurance business showed an increased operating profit, up 28% to £686Million.
In Asia, the company renewed a long standing partnership with Standard Chartered (STAN.L) for another 15 years and operating profit was up 15%.
In the UK the operating profit was up 10% despite lower annuity sales after government changes.
Chief Executive, commenting said
“We are making progress towards our 2017 growth and cash objectives, which we set out at the December 2013 investor day in
London.
In the first half of 2014 we faced some challenges with significant and sudden depreciation of the currencies in some of our ‘sweet
spot’ markets, a lower US dollar and significant disruption in the UK life and pension market where annuities sales decreased
markedly following the Budget announcement. In addition, a number of geopolitical developments created additional uncertainty.
Against this difficult backdrop, our businesses in Asia, the US and the UK have delivered a strong performance.
Looking ahead, outside the Eurozone, which continues to grapple with significant, unresolved economic and political challenges,
GDP growth is forecast to accelerate in the US and the UK. Growth in the emerging economies of Asia is expected to continue
outpacing growth in the advanced economies. The fundamentals for our businesses in Asia remain compelling – strong economic
growth and significant and rising demand for insurance from a rapidly growing and increasingly prosperous middle class, which is
under-insured. This is what we call the Asian ‘protection gap’.
The broad-based and resilient financial performance we achieved in the first half of 2014 is evidence of (i) the strength we derive
from our diversification across geographies, channels and products; (ii) the quality of our strategy; and (iii) our focus on disciplined
execution and delivery.
We remain confident in our ability to produce profitable growth over the long term and continue to create value for our customers
and shareholders.”