Prudential expects India, China to drive revenues

Prudential Plc, the UK.'s second- biggest insurer, expects the share of revenue it gets from Asia to rise from the current 55 percent, helped by growth in China, India and new markets, Chief Executive Officer Mark Tucker said.

"That is where the profit pools are and that is where we are focusing on,'' Tucker said today at a Prudential Asset Management business event in Dubai.

Prudential last month reported a 59 percent rise in first- half profit to 715 million pounds ($1.36 billion), helped in part by a 48 percent increase in Asian life-insurance sales. The insurer had businesses in 13 Asian countries and managed 32.8 billion pounds of regional funds at the end of June.

Prudential is benefiting from Asia's relatively unexplored markets that are ``not as commoditized'' as the U.K., where the company has to be ``pretty selective'' with product offerings, Tucker said.

The insurer took a 39 percent stake in a new Saudi Arabian venture in June that will acquire the Islamic life-insurance business of Saudi's Bank Al-Jazira. Prudential will later list that company's shares on the Saudi Arabian market. It also acquired a fund-management license from the tax-free Dubai International Financial Centre business park late last year.

Prudential will use expertise gained by its Malaysian joint venture that offers Shariah-compliant insurance products for its Saudi business, Tucker said. "There is no reason why we can't get as many funds from the Middle East'' as ``we get from Southeast Asia,'' he said.

Prudential's Dubai office has already attracted $400 million through its various fund offerings including its India equity, fixed-income and real estate products, Suraj Mishra, CEO of Prudential Asset Management's Dubai office, said in an interview.