Pru chief throws in the towel

FORMER Marconi chief Sir Roger Hurn is quitting as chairman of Prudential, saying he was worried the insurance giant would be damaged by his role at the helm of the fallen telecommunications technology company.

As one of Britain's biggest equity investors, he said, Prudential was heavily involved in corporate governance issues and therefore it was in the group's 'best interests' that he leave.

Sir Roger said in a statement he had hoped to delay the announcement until a successor could be named, but 'market rumours made it necessary to bring the announcement forward'. He added: 'I am concerned that Prudential should not be adversely affected in any way by my recent involvement with Marconi.'

Sir Roger and Lord Simpson quit as chairman and chief executive respectively of Marconi last September after investors wiped £30bn off its value as the technology bubble burst. But Sir Roger, who was paid £300,000 by Prudential last year, plans to remain deputy chairman of pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline and a non-executive director of blue-blooded stockbroker Cazenove.

Some of Prudential's leading institutional shareholders said they believed today's move was a pre-emptive strike by Sir Roger ahead of the Financial Services Authority's report into Marconi's spectacular crash. But they denied they had pressured him to quit.

The FSA investigation has studied whether Marconi met its legal obligations to keep the market informed in the lead-up to profit warnings that triggered its share price collapse. Regardless of its findings, the report will refresh investors' memories of the disastrous US acquisitions which contributed so heavily to Marconi's parlous financial state.

Analysts expect that a trading statement due from Marconi on Thursday will reveal little or no improvement in demand for its products.

Pru chief executive Jonathan Bloomer said he was grateful to Sir Roger for agreeing to remain chairman until a successor is appointed.

One analyst said: 'He has come out of Marconi looking very bad. He has been sensible to just get out of Prudential rather than wait for pressure to build.' A Prudential spokeswoman said Sir Roger's replacement would be named shortly.