The company said the 57% growth, posted today in its half year results, comes as a result of a “greater appreciation” of the tax and estate planning benefits of bonds in a post-Retail Distribution Review environment, combined with the “smooth, multi-asset combined” strong performance of its products.
As a group, the company saw increases across the board, with operating profit growing by 17% to reach £1.5bn and new business profit rising by nearly 25% to reach £1bn.
It also saw impressive performance across its individual business units, with Asia life and asset management operating profit rising by nearly 20% to reach £525m, while UK life operating profit reached £374m.
Group chief executive Tidjane Thiam said the company had delivered a strong performance despite “challenging conditions”, of which he singled out macroeconomic concerns in South-East Asia and “significant disruption” to the UK life market.
“The broad-based and resilient financial performance we achieved in the first half of 2014 is evidence of the strength we derive from our diversification across geographies, channels and products, the quality of our strategy and our focus on disciplined execution and delivery,” he added.
“We remain confident in our ability to produce profitable growth over the long term, while continuing to create value for our customers and shareholders.”
In March, the company reiterated that Asia will be at the “heart” of its future prospects after seeing operating profit in the region increase by 16% to £1bn, while new business profit was up 15% to £1.4bn.
