Comments
Insurance giant Prudential Plc on Wednesday posted a 10 per cent rise in its first quarter sales to €888 million (about $1.5 billion), driven by robust performance in Asia and the US.
Prudential, which runs a life insurance joint venture with ICICI Bank in India, said that its new business profit in the country slumped by 58 per cent to €31 million due to “regulatory changes”.
“The one exception ....is India. The Indian market is going through a period of adjustment, following regulatory changes,” the UK-based firm said in a statement.
The entity has registered sales of €888 million in the first quarter of 2011 as compared to €807 million in the year-ago period.
Profit from new business sales was €498 million, up 17 per cent from €427 million a year earlier. “We have delivered good results in the first quarter of 2011, with double digit growth in both profits and sales against the very strong comparatives of 2010, itself a record year for Prudential on all metrics,” Group CEO Mr Tidjane Thiam said.
In Asia, the company’s business continued to grow fast and profitably, with nine markets recording double digit growth. Excluding India, Asia’s business profit grew 16 per cent in total to €213 million and sales risen by 17 per cent to €336 million.
“We believe Asia continues to offer the most attractive opportunity in the global life insurance market today and we expect our momentum to continue, particularly in our preferred markets of South-East Asia,” Mr Thiam added.
In the US, sales stood at €322 million in the first quarter of 2011, a 26 per cent increase over the same period in 2010. New business profits were also 26 per cent higher at €220 million.
Besides, the company said, “its performance at the beginning of 2011 confirms that our strategy is delivering value to our shareholders”.
“We will continue to implement our strategy with discipline, allocating capital to the most attractive markets and products, while managing risk and capital prudently, but pro-actively,” the company added.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.