Prudential Q3 new business profit up 1 per cent, 13 per cent excluding China
Prudential reported third-quarter new business profit of $709 million, up 1 per cent year-on-year, or 13 per cent excluding its mainland China life insurance business. The company said strong wealth demand in Hong Kong and new products in Thailand drove bancassurance growth, but China's slow improve
Prudential reported new business profit of US$709 million in the third quarter, up 1 per cent year-on-year on a constant exchange-rate basis. Excluding its mainland China life insurance business, the increase was 13 per cent. In the first nine months, new business profit reached US$2.093 billion, up 6 per cent year-on-year, with the related profit margin rising 3 percentage points to 42 per cent.
The group said that excluding mainland China, bancassurance channel new business profit growth remained strong, rising more than 20 per cent in the third quarter, driven primarily by strong wealth demand in Hong Kong and the launch of new products in Thailand.
Prudential added that including the mainland China life insurance business, new business profit showed strong growth momentum in September and October. However, the pace of improvement in the mainland China life insurance business lagged behind, making it more difficult to achieve the company’s full-year new business profit growth guidance.
The group forecast that mainland China new business profit would fall by about 10 to 15 per cent for the full year. It said it expected that changes in fee controls in the mainland China bancassurance channel, together with management measures the group is taking, would improve the medium- to long-term growth outlook for the mainland China business.