Prudential continues to eye up Asian relocation as profits rise
PRUDENTIAL yesterday repeated its threat to relocate outside the European Union if the insurer fails in its campaign to rewrite capital rules that could bankrupt its American unit.
Britain’s biggest insurer, which made 88 per cent of its profit outside Europe last year, warned in February that it might redomicile if the EU did not recognise America’s insurance regulations as on a par with its own Solvency II regime.
“We hope for the best but we do have to have some contingency planning in place,” chief executive Tidjane Thiam said.
“They can resolve this with the stroke of a pen,” he added.
Prudential reported a better-than-expected nine per cent rise in first quarter sales to £964m, with growth at its Asian business offsetting decline in the UK. Its shares closed down two per cent.