Insurer Prudential appoints new chief, faces loss

British insurance group Prudential yesterday named a new chief executive and revealed that it had plunged into the red last year.

The appointment of Tidjane Thiam, currently Prudential's finance head and who will replace Mark Tucker in October, was announced alongside news that the company faced a pre-tax loss of €2.2 billion last year amid the global financial crisis.

That compared with a pre-tax profit of €4 billion in 2007, Prudential said in an earnings release. The figures were calculated under the EEV standards for "embedded value" - an accounting method for indicating the earning potential of a company, commonly used for insurance firms.

Mr Thiam, 46, is a former Ivory Coast government minister who left the cocoa-rich African country after a military coup in 1999. He has worked for Prudential since March 2008, prior to which he worked at rival Aviva.

Mr Tucker, the outgoing chief executive who has been with the group for a total of 25 years, gave no specific reason for his departure.

"Prudential plc announces that Mark Tucker has informed the board that he intends to step down as group chief executive officer on September 30 after four and a half years," the group said yesterday.

"The board is pleased to announce that Tidjane Thiam, chief financial officer, will succeed Mark Tucker... with effect from October 1, 2009."

Prudential added that the 2008 net loss, measured according to IFRS international accounting standards, stood at €418 million last year. That contrasted sharply with profit of €1,000 million in 2007.

However, the group's operating profits rallied 17 per cent to €3.1 billion last year.

"These results represent a very strong absolute and relative performance in quite exceptional circumstances," added Mr Tucker in the results statement.