Insurer Prudential posts soaring sales

Britain's biggest insurer Prudential on Wednesday said its sales rebounded sharply in the third quarter, boosted by growth in Asia and despite a turbulent global economic backdrop. Total insurance sales rallied 19 percent to £1.048 billion in the three months to the end of September, compared with £880 million in its third quarter of 2011, Prudential said in a trading statement. Sales grew 14 percent to £3.08 billion in the first nine months of 2012, it added. "Prudential has continued to perform strongly in the third quarter of 2012 in a global macroeconomic environment that remains turbulent," chief executive Tidjane Thiam said in the statement. "The global macroeconomic environment remains challenging with persistently low government bond yields and recently we have also seen the IMF downgrade global growth forecasts. "Although we remain defensively positioned, we are focused on the long-term profitable growth opportunities available to us, particularly in southeast Asia," he added.