Pru appoint first black chief executive of FTSE 100 company
Mar 20 2009 by Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post
Insurance giant Prudential said yesterday its chief executive of more than four years was stepping down to be replaced by the first black chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.
Mark Tucker, who has been with the company for 25 years, will be replaced in October by current Pru finance director Tidjane Thiam.
Mr Thiam is a former Ivory Coast government minister who left the African country following the December 1999 military coup. He joined the Pru from rival Aviva last year, fuelling speculation that the 46-year-old was on course to land one of the City’s top jobs.
A French national, Mr Thiam began his professional career with consultancy firm McKinsey in London and Paris before returning to his birthplace of Ivory Coast.
He was subsequently appointed minister of planning and development.
Mr Thiam said: “I look forward to taking over from Mark on 1st October. Mark is an outstanding chief executive, who has transformed Prudential into a strategically focused, efficient and very strongly capitalised business. It will be a privilege to work with the executive team to lead Prudential into its next stage of development.”
The change at the top came as the Prudential announced a 17 per cent rise in operating profits to £2.96 billion for 2008.
Mr Tucker said the results represented a very strong performance in “quite exceptional circumstances”.
He added that choosing to leave Prudential was one of the hardest decisions of his life.
Mr Tucker said: “I believe that I have delivered on what I set out to do and that the time is now right to hand over to a successor to continue the work.”
Prudential, which described itself as one of the world’s strongest insurers, allayed fears over its capital position by reporting a surplus of £1.7 billion.
Even if equity markets plunged by 40 per cent compared to the end of last year, its capital surplus would reduce by only £350 million, the Pru said.
Mr Tucker added that current conditions made it an “absolute priority” that the Pru focused on maintaining a robust capital position.
He said: “It is clear that 2009 will be a challenging year. Indeed, there is an increasing likelihood that in some parts of the world recession will continue into 2010.
“However, the global economy will ultimately rebound – albeit at different times and different speeds in different markets.”
Shares rose more than nine per cent yesterday as investors welcomed the better-than-expected profits performance and the appointment of Mr Thiam.
The Pru said new business profit in Asia grew 15 per cent to £741 million, while the figure for its Jackson business in the US rose three per cent to £293 million. New business profit in the UK was down one per cent at £273 million.
