Prudential reports 17 percent rise in life insurance new business profit

(Reuters) - Prudential Plc <PRU.L>, Britain's largest insurer, reported a 17 percent rise in its life insurance new business profit for the first nine months of the year on Wednesday, driven by another robust performance in Asia.

The life insurer, which has a market value of around 42 billion pounds, is in the process of demerging that will see the UK and European insurance and asset management units of the 170-year-old company split off into a separate company.

The planned demerger of M&G Prudential was on track, Prudential said in a business performance update ahead of an investor day event in Singapore.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)