Prudential share price up as company announces boost to profits for the full-year ended December 2015 and reveals a special dividend
Share price for Prudential rose this morning as the financial services company revealed a boost to its profits for the year and awarded a special dividend.
Operating profits for the group rose to £4bn, up 22 per cent on the year before.
Business was booming in the UK, with operating profits from the company's UK life business increasing to £1.2bn, up 60 per cent, while the Asia life and asset management business brought in an operating profit of £1.3bn, up 17 per cent.
Shares in the finance company were trading up 4.3 per cent at 1,383p just before 12pm London time.
"I am pleased to be able to announce such a strong performance today despite the current macroeconomic and political uncertainty, which have created a more volatile and unpredictable short-term outlook for global growth," said Mike Wells, group chief executive of Prudential. "We have the flexibility and resilience to adapt to these developments due to our focus on those markets where the need for our products is greatest, our growing level of recurring income from our sizeable in-force portfolio and our robust balance sheet position."
The company also announced a five per cent increase to its ordinary dividend, bringing it to 38.78 pence per share, as well as a special dividend of 10 pence per share.
Today's results are the first set of full-year results since former chief executive Tidjane Thiam left the company to head up Credit Suisse last year.
Analysts from S&P Global Market Intelligence remarked that today's results beat expectations, and said that its "bright outlook" remained intact.