Prudential’s growth stalled in its key markets of Hong Kong and mainland China in the first half of the year, confounding a recently bullish outlook for the region from the life insurer.

New business profit, a measure of expected earnings from recently sold products, dropped 3 per cent year on year in Hong Kong, its biggest market, in the six months to the end of June, to $651mn. The fall comes after the company notched up strong growth of 218 per cent in the same period last year, as mainland Chinese visitors returned to Hong Kong after the pandemic.

Prudential’s mainland Chinese joint venture recorded a 33 per cent dip in new business profit, despite the insurer’s chief executive Anil Wadhwani stating in March that it was “starting to see the momentum coming back” in China.