Prudential suffered a slowdown in profit growth in 2024 as challenges in its core China market weighed on the life insurer.
The FTSE 100 group said on Thursday morning in Hong Kong that new-business profit, a measure of expected earnings from recently sold products, rose by 11 per cent to $3.08bn in 2024, at constant currencies.
While new-business profits rose, a stalling of growth in Prudential’s mainland China and Hong Kong markets meant the increase in 2024 was far smaller than the 45 per cent rise it had booked for 2023.
Chief executive Anil Wadhwani has fought to restore momentum to the Asia-focused insurer whose sales had taken a hit from pandemic restrictions that cut off the flow of visitors from mainland China to Hong Kong.
Prudential, which is dual-listed in London and Hong Kong, completed a sweeping restructure in 2021, shedding its US and European operations to focus on Asia.
Wadhwani said the low level of insurance cover among Asian consumers presented an opportunity for the company and that there was “continued, and growing, demand for long-term savings and protection products across our markets”.
The company was also betting on “a need for wealth management and retirement planning, particularly in our higher-income Asian markets”, he said.
Including the effect of changes in interest rates and exchange rates, new-business profit declined by 2 per cent in 2024.
