Prudential reports profit up thanks to Asian business

LONDON (Reuters) - First-half results at Prudential came in just above forecasts on Thursday with a 7 percent rise in profit, helped by its Asian business, and the insurer said it was on track to double new business profit there this year.

Operating profit on a European embedded value basis totalled 1.43 billion pounds.

A Reuters poll of 12 analysts gave an average forecast for operating profit of 1.34 billion pounds. The company's own average of forecasts was 1.31 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Greg Mahlich)