Prudential Financial operating profit drops 12%

[NEW YORK] Prudential Financial Inc on Thursday reported a 12 per cent drop in adjusted operating income, partly due to a loss in its individual life insurance business and declines in other units.

The US No 1 life insurer by assets reported adjusted operating income, which excludes realised gains and losses from investments, of US$1 billion, or US$2.44 per share, compared with US$1.2 billion, or US$2.69 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts had expected US$2.78 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Adjusted operating income for PGIM, Prudential's asset management arm, fell 20.6 per cent to US$243 million from US$306 million a year earlier, the company said.

PGIM managed US$1.16 trillion in assets as of Dec 31, US$6 billion more than at the end of the year-ago quarter.

Prudential's US individual life insurance unit reported a US$26 million adjusted operating income loss compared to US$98 million in income a year ago.

REUTERS