Berenberg Upbeat on Prudential plc's FY27 Value of New Business Growth

12:00 PM EST, 11/06/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg is optimistic about Prudential plc's (PRU.L) value of new business growth in 2027, expecting the British insurer's "strong" momentum to continue amid projections of sustained double-digit growth in Hong Kong. "In Q3, standalone VNB grew by just 1% for the group as a whole and, as a result of this near-zero growth in Q3, we estimate that Prudential's unchanged 10% growth target for VNB in FY 2026 is out of reach: we now estimate 8% for FY 2026 for the group as a whole. This lower-than-10% expected growth in FY 2026 is the challenging news, and it is the reason why we refer to the Q3 trading statement as the low point for the group's performance," analysts said in a note published Friday. "However, excluding mainland China, where we estimate that in Q3 VNB fell 65% and where Prudential now guides to a FY 2026 VNB decline of 10-15%, the rest of the group grew VNB at 13%." The research firm also noted that Prudential maintained its long-term value-of-new-business compound annual growth rate target of 10% over the 2026 to 2027 period. "This target implies that, to make up for the slowdown in FY 2026, the group's VNB growth needs to rise to 13% in FY 2027. We believe that this target is achievable and that now is the time to buy into Prudential's growth recovery story," Berenberg said. As such, the buy recommendation on the stock was left unchanged, along with the price target of 14.45 pounds sterling.