Prudential PLC, the United Kingdom's second-largest insurer, is to introduce a package of measures Thursday aimed at boosting the value of its domestic business.
Management has indicated that a full range of options is open, but analysts said that cost-cutting and a narrowing of product focus is more likely than a sale.
Analysts said that the company had failed to cope with the demise of direct sales-force distribution, that its nonannuity business is unprofitable and lacks scale, and that costs per customer are higher than for other insurance players.
Speculation about the future of Prudential's U.K. business has taken attention away from the group's fast-growing Asian and U.S operations. Jackson National Life, its U.S. subsidiary, has generated strong variable annuity sales.
