Dear Prudence

24 February 2004 By Chris Hughes

The formerly solid performance of the UK insurer has become much harder to rely on. Its latest results have been hit by the falling dollar. But CEO Jonathan Bloomer is hesitant to take advantage of the weak dollar by making acquisitions in the US. He should not be so cautious.

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Prudential, the UK's secondlargest insurer, posted annual preexceptional, pregoodwill operating profits of £794m on the industry's "achieved profits" basis, missing expectations.

The company said the auction process for its internet bank egg was continuing, but declined to provide further details.

"2003 was a difficult year for the insurance industry," said Jonathan Bloomer, the chief executive. "There were some increasingly positive trends in the third and fourth quarters as markets began to stabilise and sales started to recover, and we ended the year in good shape."

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