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Prudential PLC on Wednesday said the post-pandemic recovery in Asia boosted its half-year performance, as it unveiled a new growth strategy.
In the six months to June 30, the Asia-focused insurer swung to a pretax profit of $1.18 billion from a loss of $1.35 billion a year prior on an IFRS basis.
On an adjusted basis, operating profit rose by 3.5% to $1.46 billion from $1.41 billion the year before, as the firm reported strong business in Hong Kong and mainland China following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
The firm’s new business profit for the six-month period grew by 36% to $1.49 billion from $1.10 billion.
Insurance revenue grew by 10% to $4.59 billion from $4.16 billion the year before, with Hong Kong contributing the highest amount at $1.58 billion.
Prudential booked an investment return of $7.17 billion from a negative $23.9 billion a year ago, while net investment result swung to $652 million from a loss of $2.10 billion.
Prudential declared an interim dividend of 6.26 cents per share, up 9.1% from 5.74 cents per share for the same period a year ago.
Alongside interim results, Chief Executive Officer Anil Wadhwani announced a new purpose and strategy following the completion of his strategic and operational review, which included ‘targeted investment in structural growth markets in Asia and Africa’.
Looking ahead, Prudential expects to grow new business profit at 15% to 20% compound annual growth between 2022 and 2027.
Commenting on his first interim results and strategic update, Wadhwani said: ‘The interim results demonstrate the power of our multi-engine, multichannel business model across Asia and Africa.’
‘We have today announced that we will do things differently in the way we run Prudential. With a clear strategy, operational and capital allocation priorities, we are focused on delivering sustainable value for all our stakeholders: employees, customers, shareholders and our communities,’ he added.
Shares in Prudential were up 3.9% at 1,023.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning, making it the top performer in the FTSE 100 index.
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