Prudential Financial Inc., the No. 2 U.S. life insurer with Hartford operations, reported a larger profit for the second quarter on as its business grew and the company started to benefit from acquisitions in Japan, Reuters reports.
The company said account values hit a record in individual annuities and retirement products, while assets under management in its asset management segment also hit a new high. New premiums in all of its insurance lines rose.
Prudential reported a net profit of $831 million, or $1.68 per share, compared with a profit of $798 million, or $1.70 per share, a year earlier. Even though the profit rose, the per-share figures fell because there was a larger share count.
On an operating basis, the company earned $1.71 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S on average expected earnings of $1.55 per share.
Prudential said AIG Star Life and AIG Edison Life, which it bought as of February 1, generated additional operating income of 5 cents per share for the company in the quarter.
Annuity account values rose 33 percent from a year earlier, Prudential said, while retirement account values rose 22 percent year-on-year. The company’s insurance segments also benefited from fewer deaths than a year earlier.
