Prudential profit rises on Singapore growth, China and Hong Kong sales stall
Adds share price, CEO comment, expansion; paragraphs 3,6,8,10
By Selena Li
HONG KONG, Aug 28 (Reuters) -Prudential PRU.L saw sales in the Singapore market propel its first-half profit increase, but a slowdown in business in its one-time largest markets of Hong Kong and China weighed on overall growth.
The London and Hong Kong dual-listed company posted on Wednesday operating profit of $1.54 billion for the first six months on a constant exchange rate basis, up 9% from $1.46 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Its Hong Kong shares rose 2.1% after the earnings, recouping a dip in the morning session, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI was down 1% on the day.
The annual premium equivalent (APE) sales, a gauge of sales volume, of its China onshore joint venture Citic-Prudential Life Insurance (CPL) dropped 15% to $324 million in the first half, versus a year ago.
The weak sales came after Prudential and Citic, which own 50% of the unit each, injected cash of 2.5 billion yuan ($350.64 million) in December last year.
The China joint venture started in last year's third quarter, aiming to "reprice and reposition" its product mix in the market in line with domestic regulation.
The one-time adjustment affected sales activities but some signs of recovery have emerged recently.
"We believe that we've started to turn the corner in China as we've entered the second half of the year," Chief Executive Anil Wadhwani told reporters, referring to improved new sales from the market.
A slowing Chinese economy and concerns about the property sector are keeping the pressure on interest rates, a factor that could also weigh on the Asian, as well as global, economy, the insurer said in a statement.
But China's increasingly ageing population and rising demand for insurance protection offer significant opportunities for insurance businesses, Wadhwani said.
"And we remain cautiously optimistic about our growth prospects based on the demand drivers and based on our position in the China market."
The company's flagship market, Hong Kong, saw a drop of 7% in APE sales to $955 million, largely due to a high base effect from a year ago, when volume surged on pent-up demand from Chinese visitors buying insurance in Hong Kong after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm has stepped up expansion of its agency workforce, having recruited 2,600 new agents in the first half against last year's total of 4,000, Wadhwani said.
The Asia and Africa-focused insurer's Singapore business grew by 17% to $450 million in the first six months from the same period a year ago, with the city state replacing China onshore to become Prudential's second largest new sales market.
In Indonesia, APE sales dropped by 25% to $107 million during the period from a year ago, also mainly due to repricing and upgrade of products.
($1=7.1298 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Clarence Fernandez
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Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
