Insurer Prudential today posted a 22% rise in pretax operating profit for 2015, beating forecasts and boosted by strong performances at its British, US and Asian life businesses.
The company, which also announced a special dividend, said operating profit came in at £4 billion, above analysts' consensus forecast for £3.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Operating profit at its British life business jumped 60% to £1.2 billion, helped by reinsuring more of its longevity risk and adjusting its fixed income portfolio.
Funds under management at M&G, Prudential's UK fund management arm, fell 7% to £246 billion, driven by outflows from retail investors in a volatile year for markets.
But operating profits at the firm's business in Asia, where it is looking for its growth, rose 17% and its asset management arm Eastspring posted record third-party net inflows.
Prudential's chief executive Mike Wells said he was pleased with Prudential's performance given "the current macroeconomic and political uncertainty, which have created a more volatile and unpredictable short-term outlook for global growth".
Prudential, which was the first British insurer to announce a solvency capital ratio under the new European rules for insurers, of 190% at the end of June 2015, said its ratio at end-December was 193%.
A ratio of 100% shows insurers have sufficient capital to cover underwriting, investment and operational risks.
The firm said it would pay a total dividend of 38.78 pence per share, up 5% from 2014 though below a forecast of 39.69 pence.
It said it would also pay a special dividend of 10 pence per share.
