Prudential Share News (PRU)

(Sharecast News) - Prudential reported another quarter of double-digit growth on Thursday, with new business profit rising 13% year on year to $705m for the three months ended 30 September, driven by continued strength across its Asian operations and improved margins.

Annual premium equivalent (APE) sales increased 10% to $1.72bn, while the new business margin widened by one percentage point to 41%.

"The momentum of our delivery continues with another quarter of double-digit growth in the third quarter," said chief executive Anil Wadhwani.

"This demonstrates the growing strength of our execution resulting in greater consistency of our performance across quarters.

"Volumes grew and new business margin improved as we continue to prioritise writing high-quality new business."

Wadhwani added that the group continued to strengthen its agency force, particularly in ASEAN markets, through initiatives to improve agent quality and productivity and through the PruVenture specialist recruitment programme, which had produced recruits "that have shown higher productivity than other new recruits".

He said bancassurance also delivered another strong quarter, with margins "higher than the prior year as our ongoing focus on the quality of new business through this channel delivered results".

In Hong Kong, Prudential recorded another period of double-digit new business profit growth as both agency and bancassurance channels benefited from a strategic shift towards health and protection products.

Its mainland China joint venture, CITIC Prudential Life, also reported strong double-digit growth in both volumes and profit ahead of market repricing changes, supported by its expanding partnership with CITIC Bank.

Elsewhere, Malaysia posted sequential quarter-on-quarter growth in new business profit as its agency network recovered from earlier disruption, while Singapore saw gains driven by double-digit growth in agency APE sales and robust demand for savings products.

Indonesia's performance moderated against a strong prior-year comparator and civil unrest during the quarter, though margins improved thanks to a shift toward higher-margin traditional policies.

Across its broader portfolio, the 'growth markets and other' segment recorded double-digit new business profit growth, with nine of 13 markets improving year on year.

Eastspring, Prudential's asset management arm, saw funds under management or advice rise to $286.4bn as at 30 September from $274.9bn at the end of June, supported by $3.4bn in net inflows and positive market movements.

During the quarter, Prudential repurchased around 20 million shares for $258m, bringing total buybacks under its current $2bn programme to $1.75bn.

The company said it was on track to complete the programme by the end of the year, and reaffirmed it was "firmly on track to achieve our 2025 guidance and our 2027 financial objectives".

At 0917 GMT, Prudential shares were down 0.38% at 1,055p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.