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Prudential increases dividend and profits
The first set of results for Prudential since the collapse of its deal to buy Asian insurer AIA have proved to better than expected. Operating profits for the first half of 2010 rose 41 percent to £968 million.
The insurer was always determined that the costs of the failed bid would not impact on its dividends, and the strong results have enabled Prudential to raise its interim dividend by five percent to 6.61p per share.
Initial estimates set the costs at £450 million, but these have now dropped to £377 million. This is a result of Prudential renegotiating the fees paid to the advisers who worked on the deal, as requested by some of its leading investors.
Prudential's directors faced criticism and calls for their resignation from shareholders following the collapse of the deal, but these results are likely to lift some of the pressure on the firm.
