Pru lifts dividend as earnings hit £4.8bn

THE break-up of Prudential is continuing at speed, bosses have said.

The Pru is splitting itself in two, creating a separate company made up of its US and Asian businesses, and another, M&G Prudential, housing its UK insurance and fund management arms.

The insurance group also unveiled profits of £4.8bn in 2018, up 3pc on a year earlier, and hiked the dividend 5pc to 49.35p.

Profits were boosted by a strong performance in Asia, as well as a £440m windfall in the UK because life expectancy is rising slower than predicted. This means Pru customers will die sooner than previously thought, so the firm has to set aside less cash to pay their pensions.

The company also revealed it has bought a majority stake in African company Group Beneficial, which has 300,000 life insurance customers in Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Togo.

Pru shares rose 0.7pc, or 10.5p, to 1540.5p.