Prudential sales surge to £2.8bn

PRUDENTIAL appears to have emerged unscathed from the decision to dump its direct sales force, reporting spectacular sales growth for 2001.

The insurer, led by Jonathan Bloomer, said today that its annual premium equivalent sales, the industry's key performance yardstick, leapt 46% to £2.8bn last year. Much of the growth came from Prudential's Asian operations, where sales were 177% higher. There was a 10% rise in Britain.

The figures also showed that adverse publicity surrounding with-profits policies had not deterred investors, enabling Prudential to increase sales of its with-profits bond by 33% to £2bn.

Many with-profits providers have cut their bonus rates in recent months, blaming weak equity markets and low interest rates. CGNU, Britain's biggest insurer, today said its annual bonuses would be cut by up to 19% this year. Prudential is expected to unveil cuts in February.

The stock market's poor performance did lead to a 5% fall in underlying investment sales at Prudential's unit trust specialist M&G, taking this figure to £918m.