21/03/2025

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | MAR 21, 2025

17 Prudential bullish on future growth as profit rises

New Zealand crawls out of shallow recession

SYDNEY: New Zealand has crawled out of a shallow recession as the nation’s all-important farming and tourism sectors splutter back to life, official data showed yesterday. The country’s economic output grew by 0.7% in the quarter to December, according to new government figures, a modest lift after tipping into recession last September. It was largely fuelled by agriculture – New Zealand is one of the biggest milk exporters in the world – and a rebounding tourism sector. “Higher spending by international visitors led to increased activity in tourism-related industries such as accommodation, restaurants and bars, transport, and vehicle hiring,” a government statement said. A recession is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. Once dubbed a “rock star economy” for its ability to weather financial crises, New Zealand has been battered in recent years. Natural disasters have devastated swathes of farming country, while global supply chain issues hurt the island nation more than most. Tourist numbers have struggled to match the peaks seen before the Covid pandemic. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said that data “confirms that New Zealanders can look forward to a better future”. – AFP Eli Lilly launches weight-loss drug Mounjaro in India MUMBAI: Eli Lilly has launched its blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drug Mounjaro in India following approval from the country’s drug regulator, it said yesterday. Global demand for Lilly’s diabetes and weight loss drugs has soared, with the launch presenting a big market opportunity for the United States-based drug company as India, world’s most populous country, is seeing increasing rates of obesity and diabetes. “The dual burden of obesity and type 2 diabetes is rapidly emerging as a major public health challenge in India,” said president and general manager Winselow Tucker at Lilly India. India has about 101 million people living with diabetes and obesity, a chronic relapsing disease, is a major risk factor for diabetes, Lilly said. Mounjaro, chemically known as tirzepatide, is currently sold in the UK and Europe under the same brand name for both diabetes and weight loss. It is sold as Zepbound for obesity in the U.S. CEO David Ricks told Reuters in February last year that Lilly expects to launch Mounjaro in India as early as 2025. Analysts have projected global obesity drug sales reaching US$150 billion (RM664 billion) a year by the early 2030s. – Reuters

HONG KONG: Prudential PLC posted a solid increase in annual profit yesterday, propelled by strong growth in most of its segments, and robust demand for insurance products in Hong Kong and Singapore. The insurer, listed in Hong Kong and London, expects to grow new business profit and basic earnings per share, based on adjusted operating profit and operating free surplus, by more than 10% in 2025 on a constant exchange rate basis, it said. “In our view, the most important development is that Prudential is guiding to more than 10% growth in 2025 for all key metrics,” analysts at Jefferies said in a note.

o Insurer expects dividends to increase by at least 10% this year

agents in the second half (of the year), and actions undertaken to improve our variances,” Wadhwani said. The annual premium equivalent (APE) sales, a gauge of sales volume, for Hong Kong grew 5%, while the Singapore segment posted a 10% jump. The company registered growth in 18 of its 22 markets. However, the firm highlighted a challenging macroeconomic environment in China, with a substantial reduction in long-dated government bond yields, which it expects to continue through 2025. Prudential’s Hong Kong-listed shares were up 0.2% to HK$78.00 as of 0539 GMT (1.39pm in Malaysia). – Reuters

Total new business profit grew 11% to US$3.08 billion. CEO Anil Wadhwani highlighted growing demand for long term savings and protection products across the company’s markets, and a need for wealth management and retirement planning, particularly in the higher income Asian markets. “Insurance penetration rates in Asia are low. “We have seen good progress in 2024 with improved cash signatures for new business, growth in the number of active

Prudential also estimated that dividends per share would increase by at least 10% this year, after declaring a second interim cash dividend of 16.29 cents per share, and a total dividend of 23.13 cents per share for 2024. The company posted an adjusted operating profit before tax of US$3.13 billion (RM15 billion) for the 12 months ended Dec 31, a 10% increase compared with the previous year, on a constant exchange rate basis.

Larry Fink (left), chairman and CEO of BlackRock, speaks during an interview with CNBC on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. – REUTERSPIC

BlackRock plans new ETFs, retail investor focus LONDON: BlackRock is betting on an expanded range of retail-focused products, including more exchange traded funds, to attract a new generation of Europeans into investing, an executive said, as it tries to outcompete local rivals slowly gaining ground. managers, but analysts say they face a tough task keeping up their past growth rates. Stephen Cohen, its chief product officer, said BlackRock wanted to strike more agreements with local banks to distribute a wider range of funds to attract millions of first-time European investors. savings, it’s not a culture of investing. “That is now starting to change and change quite radically,” Cohen told Reuters. European

ETF said Morningstar analyst Jose Garcia Zarate, after its growth to date was mainly driven by institutions. BlackRock – which already works with British banks Lloyds and Monzo – is exploring further distribution deals and particularly in markets where it is less established such as Eastern Europe, Cohen said, declining to give further details. BlackRock is also preparing to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded product in Europe, Reuters reported last month, following on from the take-up of bitcoin ETFs in the US. – Reuters market,

His comments come as the European Union on Wednesday announced a new “Savings and Investment Union” strategy to get more money out of low-yielding accounts and into investments, noting that 70% of household savings in the EU – worth €10 trillion (RM48 trillion) – are held as bank deposits. Attracting consumers is the “missing ingredient” for the

The US fund manager, through its iShares unit, has a 43% market share in European ETFs, three times its nearest rival, according to Morningstar data. BlackRock and other index tracker providers have dominated Europe’s investment market in recent years, squeezing local

BlackRock will explore launching more bond and actively managed ETFs – a small but growing area in Europe – and targeted indices that track fewer stocks to meet changing client demands, Cohen said. “Europe starts as a culture of