Prudential Financial profit beats on asset management strength

The company's total after-tax adjusted operating income rose to $1.18 billion, or $2.93 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $915 million, or $2.24 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.57 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Prudential Financial Inc beat analysts' estimates for quarterly adjusted profit on Thursday as the strong performance of the U.S. life insurer's asset management arm cushioned the hit from coronavirus-related claims. PGIM, Prudential's asset management arm, reported a record 40% rise in fourth-quarter adjusted operating income to $404 million. The unit's assets under management jumped 13% to an all-time high of $1.49 trillion.

The company's shares rose 2.5% in extended trading as it also authorized the buyback of up to $1.5 billion shares from the start of 2021. A rebound in investment income and lower payouts for dental and other non-medical health claims have helped global life insurers offset some of the blow from payouts related to the health crisis, with MetLife Inc also reporting a marginal rise in fourth-quarter adjusted profit.

Prudential's U.S. individual life insurance business posted an adjusted operating loss of $65 million, compared with an adjusted operating income of $58 million a year earlier, a result driven by payouts for COVID death-related claims. The company's total after-tax adjusted operating income rose to $1.18 billion, or $2.93 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $915 million, or $2.24 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts had expected a profit of $2.57 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

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