| |
| Please Note - Streaming News is only available to subscribers to the Active Level and above |
|
|
|
Pru UK sales slump
Business Financial Newswire
|
Life insurer Prudential this morning reported better than expected first quarter sales.
A strong performance in Asia offset a continued downturn at its UK division.
Prudential, the UK's second-biggest insurer, said total sales for the three months to March 31st 2007 came in at £640m on an annual premium equivalent basis, up 8% compared with the same period last year at constant exchange rates.
Analysts had expected sales of £613m, according to a consensus forecast supplied by the company.
The improvement was driven by Prudential's Asian business, where sales jumped 34% to £277m. That outweighed a sharp downturn in the UK, where sales fell 23% on the year to £183m.
Prudential said the decline largely reflected a one-off £66m bulk annuity deal with Royal London in the first quarter of 2006.
The insurer also said net fund inflows at asset management division M&G came in at £1.4bn, down 22% on the same period last year. It blamed the decline on asset allocation shifts by European retail investors.
'We continue to see excellent prospects across the group and we will pursue these opportunities aggressively with a clear focus on value creation,' Prudential chief executive Mark Tucker said in a statement.
Prudential's US sales rose 21% on the year to £180m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
