Prudential hikes buyback, dividend as first-half profits rise

27th Aug 2026 07:25

(Sharecast News) - Prudential raised its share buyback programme and hiked its dividend on Thursday after reporting strong first-half results, which showed adjusted profits rising by a tenth.

Adjusted operating pre-tax profit at the insurance and asset management company were up 10% at $1.52bn over the first six months of 2026, with new business profit growing 8% and margins expanding 2 percentage points to 40%.

Operating free surplus generated from in-force insurance and asset management (known as gross OSFG) was up 15% year-on-year at $1.79bn.

Prudential also reported solid growth in embedded value (EV) - a calculation insurers use which adds NAV to the present value of future profits expected from in-force policies - with group traditional EV equity rising to $39.1bn from $37.8bn at the end of 2025.

The company raised its interim dividend by 15% to 8.88 cents per share, and added $300m to its planned share repurchases, taking its total buyback plan for the year to $1.5bn.

"In the first half of 2026, we delivered high-quality growth, margin expansion and strong capital generation - reflecting our focus on writing profitable new business across our diversified, multi-market and multi-channel platform," said chief executive Anil Wadhwani.

"We remain firmly focused on the delivery of our FY26 guidance of double-digit growth in new business profit, gross OFSG and adjusted EPS, together with double-digit dividend per share growth, and on achieving our 2027 financial objectives."

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