Prudential (PRU) chief executive Mike Wells cites the life insurer's business weighting towards Asia as a major plus for the group post-referendum. In fact, since around 80 per cent of the group's sales are generated outside of Europe, Mr Wells argues that Brexit would not have a material impact on business. New life business from Asia continued to be the principal growth driver during the first half of the year, at almost £1.7bn, up a fifth year-on-year.
The life insurer performed grew its free cash surplus by 10 per cent to £1.46bn and cash remitted to the business by 5 per cent to £1.1bn. In Asia new business profits were up a fifth as the region's growing middle class showed increased demand for savings products. Around 94 per cent of new business sales here have a regular premium element, and a quarter are directed towards health and protection coverage, to an extent insulating the Pru from market swings.
Extending the product range offered by its UK PruFund platform - to include income drawdown and Isas - proved a popular move. Sales from the range grew by half to just shy of £600m, while assets under management were up a fifth to £20.1bn. However, in the US government reforms dented sales of variable annuities, which fell by more than a quarter.
Analysts at Shore Capital expect adjusted net asset value excluding dividends of 1,336p a share at December 2016, rising to 1,452p a year later.
PRUDENTIAL (PRU) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,402p | MARKET VALUE: | £36.2bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,400.5-1,402p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,575p | LOW: 1,077p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD*: | 2.8% | PE RATIO: | 20 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 566p** | EMBEDDED VALUE: | 1,356p | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Gross written premiums (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£bn) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 17.9 | 2.08 | 56.3 | 12.31 |
| 2016 | 17.4 | 0.96 | 26.9 | 12.93 |
| % change | -3 | -54 | -52 | +5 |
Ex-div: 25 Aug Payment: 29 Sep *Excludes special dividend of 10p paid in May 2016 **Includes intangible assets of £11.3bn, or 437p a share | ||||
