Prudential plc says its net profit jumped 9.3% in fiscal 2020

Prudential plc (LON: PRU) said on Wednesday that its profit from continuing operations in fiscal 2020 came in at £1.56 billion. In the previous financial year, it had reported a lower £1.39 billion of profit from continuing operations. Prudential’s net profit in 2020 posted an annualised growth of 9.3%.

Prudential plc shares slumped more than 1% in premarket trading on Wednesday but recovered the entire intraday loss on market open. Including the price action, the stock is now trading at a per-share price of £14.98 after recovering from a low of £7.1 per share in March 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions were at their peak. The price action should come in handy if you’re interested in investing in the stock market.

Prudential reports £3.73 billion of EEV operating profit

Prudential said that its per-share earnings in 2020 stood at 58.37 pence per share versus the year-ago figure of 53.72 pence per share. The insurance company reported £3.73 billion of EEV operating profit – a decline from £4.94 billion in 2019. The British firm earned 4.22 pence per share from continuing operations on an EEV basis, compared to a sharply higher £1.14 per share in the previous year.

Prudential said that it generated £40.04 billion of total revenue in 2020 (net of reinsurance) versus a significantly higher £67.06 billion in 2019. The London-based company earned £30.42 billion of gross premiums – a decline from £32.23 billion in the previous year.

In separate news from the United Kingdom, housebuilder Persimmon plc said that its profit tanked in 2020 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 4.1 million people countrywide, and caused over 123 thousand deaths.

Prudential declares 7.68 pence per share of second interim dividend

Prudential declared 7.68 pence per ordinary share of second interim dividend for 2020 on Wednesday.

As per the insurance firm, it plans on raising up to £2.15 billion of new equity once its U.S. business is successfully demerged. Prudential expects to demerge Jackson Financial Inc. in Q2 of the current year. Ahead of the demerger, Jackson Financial named Dev Ganguly as the Chief Operating Officer in February. Julia Goatley, the company said, will serve as the interim general counsel.

Prudential plc performed slightly downbeat in the stock market last year with an annual decline of close to 7%. At the time of writing, the British multinational insurance company is valued at £39.08 billion.