Prudential enjoys bump in new business profit as it cuts off loss-making US operations
Life insurance and financial services company Prudential enjoyed a bump to new business profit last year, as the pandemic-era drive to get one’s affairs in order rolls on.
New business profit lifted 15 per cent to $2.5bn in the year to 31 December, up from $2.2bn in 2020.
The London-headquartered company’s gross premiums for 2021 inched slightly higher than in 2020, up from $23.4bn to $24.2bn, it announced in its latest financial update today.
However, Prudential swallowed a loss of $2.8bn for the full-year, plunging from its 2020 profit of $2.1bn.
The pensions and retirement planning firm, which operates across Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, halted its US operations at the beginning of the year.
The board had announced in late January that Prudential’s US activities would be separated from the group through a demerger into a new entity known as Jackson.
The company’s US operations accounted for a loss of a little over $5bn last year, a steep fall from the $283m loss it recorded in 2020.
While profit after tax for Prudential’s continuing operations slips from its 2020 figure of $2.4bn to $2.2bn.