Prudential plc (PRU) Ordinary 5p

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Prudential reported third quarter annual premium equivalent (APE) sales of $1.7bn, up 10% ignoring currency moves. New business profit rose 13% to $705mn.

New business margins improved to 41%, reflecting a shift toward higher-quality products.

Eastspring’s assets under management rose to $286.4bn, up from $274.9bn at the half-year mark, helped by net inflows and market gains.

The group remains on track to complete its $2bn share buyback by year-end, with $1.75bn already deployed.

The shares were broadly flat on the day.

Our view

Prudential started the year with some good momentum. New business profit growth is comfortably ahead of the group’s 10% target so far this year, and management expressed a confident tone about the future.

The business offers life and health insurance, as well as asset management, across a range of Asian countries. Hong Kong operations boast a market-leading position for products aimed at visitors from mainland China. We’re pleased to see last year’s strong growth continue. Price increases seem to have landed without too much disruption, volumes are moving up, and the combination has been positive for margins.

Medium-term initiatives are evolution rather than revolution and include investment across several core areas, including technology, and creating a more joined-up customer approach across the product ranges. Benefits are already being felt, with sales agents becoming more profitable and AI driving higher sales by improving customer journeys.

Looking further ahead, the broader Asian and Indian regions should benefit from long-term economic development. Insurance uptake is also low in areas like Asia, and in many cases, state provisions for pensions and social security are limited. India offers lots of potential in the health insurance space, with a huge population and around half of all health expenses being covered by disposable cash. We see several longer-term opportunities in many of these underpenetrated markets.

China has been a challenging market, where Prudential mainly operates through joint ventures. This reflects broader economic headwinds, but conditions do seem to be improving and third-quarter growth was strong – an area to watch.

Prudential also has a big asset management business, Eastspring, which manages over $285bn of assets. It offers a host of investment solutions as well as managing premiums generated from the life insurance business. While market volatility persisted due to geopolitical and tariff-related uncertainty, Eastspring continued to see strong demand for its active strategies

Capital levels are strong, and the group’s committed to increasing the dividend by 10% through to 2027, as well as accelerating the pace of its ongoing buyback. But this isn't a high-yielder like some of its UK-listed peers and nothing is guaranteed.

The refreshed strategy brings with it some bold goals, and progress looks good. We think Prudential's Asian focus and higher growth opportunities give a different option for a UK investor. The key area to watch is China, where uncertain economic conditions continue to add risk.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk

The financials sector is medium-risk in terms of ESG. Product governance is the largest risk for most companies, especially those in the US and Europe with enhanced regulatory scrutiny. Data privacy and security is also an increasingly important risk for banks and diversified financial firms. Business ethics, ESG integration and labour relations are also worth monitoring.

According to Sustainalytics, Prudential’s management of material ESG issues is strong.

Prudential trains sales employees annually on responsible marketing and has strong policies for data privacy and security. The company invests in digital products to enhance customer experience but does not disclose customer complaint details. While it offers thorough training on ethics and corruption, and also provides whistleblower protections, Prudential lacks ethical risk assessments in investment and product development.

This article is original Hargreaves Lansdown content, published by Hargreaves Lansdown. It was correct as at the date of publication, and our views may have changed since then. Unless otherwise stated estimates, including prospective yields, are a consensus of analyst forecasts provided by LSEG. These estimates are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Yields are variable and not guaranteed. Investments rise and fall in value so investors could make a loss.

This article is not advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any investment. No view is given on the present or future value or price of any investment, and investors should form their own view on any proposed investment.

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