Given Prudential’s latest market update, brokers at The Share Centre are optimistic on the outlook for the life insurance giant and are tipping it as a ‘buy’.
Following a strong set of first half results reported by the company in August, in its third quarter interim management statement, the FTSE 100 constituent declared that new business profits were up 17% over the first nine months of the year to £1.51bn and in addition its fund management operations enjoyed £1.5bn of new inflows during the third quarter.
Commenting on the results Tidjane Thiam, Prudential’s chief executive said: “Our performance in 2014 across geographies is strong: our disciplined execution in pursuing clearly defined long-term opportunities in Asia, the US and the UK, has continued to drive profitable growth, in spite of a challenging environment. We remain confident about our prospects for the rest of the year and our ability to create lasting long-term value for our customers and shareholders.”
Over the past year the firm’s shares have jumped 18% – and by 10% in the past month alone. This month has seen analysts at Shore Capital, Panmure Gordon and Deutsche reiterate ‘buy’ recommendations on the stock although Exane BNP Paribas, has the firm on its ‘underperform’ list.
But Sheridan Admans, investment research manager at The Share Centre, has selected Prudential as his share of the week. He says: “The group continues to see robust demand for its products and services in Asia and the UK and as a result the company remains confident on its geographical positioning and strategy to deliver growth.
“We recommend Prudential as a ‘buy’ for investors looking for a positive investment idea that spans the US, Asia and the UK. The group trades at a premium to many of its UK listed peers, but we believe this is a reflection of its robust earnings yield and the potential from its Asian growth proposition and the business continuing to target cash growth.”
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