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Boosted by its Asian business, Prudential PLC's third-quarter insurance sales rose 17% to 809 million pounds sterling from 689 million pounds a year earlier. Article discusses Prudential's sales by region, growth in Asia, and failed attempt to take over AIA Group Ltd.

Old Mutual PLC's 2009 operating profit rose 4% to 1.17 billion pounds sterling from 1.136 billion pounds a year earlier. Full-year life assurance sales dropped 6% to 1.38 billion pounds, while fourth-quarter life insurance sales rose 29%. Old Mutual said it will partially list its asset-management unit in the U.S., and sell its U.S. life-insurance operations.

Affected by strong competition from newer trading platforms, London Stock Exchange Group PLC reported a 9% third-quarter drop in revenue to 154.9 million pounds sterling, compared with revenue of 169.4 million a year earlier.

Boosted by revenue from foreign markets, European insurance firms Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., Aviva PLC, and Mapfre S.A. report strong results for 2008. Generali's direct premiums rose 4.1% to 67.4 billion euro. Final results will be reported on March 20. Aviva's new-business revenue rose 11% to 36.3 billion euro, while Mapfre's profit increased 23% to 900.7 million euro.

In an open letter, Barclays PLC's chairman -Marcus Agius- and chief executive -John Varley- say the bank will post better-than-expected profit when it reports 2008 earnings on February 9. Analysts had predicted profit of 5.3 billion pounds sterling. Barclays says it has 36 billion pounds sterling in liquidity and has no need for additional capital from the government or investors. The announcement caused Barclays' shares to rise 73% to close at 88.70 pence in London trading.

Seeking to expand its international reinsurance business, Aon Corp. has agreed to acquire reinsurance broker Benfield Group Ltd. for 844 million pounds sterling and the assumption of 91 million pounds sterling in debt. The acquisition is expected to boost the companies' per-share earnings and bring both companies 65 million pounds in savings by 2011.

Fiscal second-quarter net profit for Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. rose by 3.3% to $683.1 mil, while operating revenue increased by 11%. Earnings before amortization, depreciation, tax, and interest increased 43%.

The fees charged by investment banks in the United Kingdom for underwiting stocks are being scrutinized by the country's Office of Fair Trading, which says that some $2 million pounds was charged by the banks in fees.