(MENAFN- AFP) British insurer Prudential revealed rising 2013 operating profits and a dividend hike on Wednesday, sending shares surging to a record peak, but the group added that net earnings sank.Operating profit, or earnings before tax and interest payments, rose 17 percent to £2.95 billion ($4.89 billion, 3.52 billion euros) last year, buoyed by a strong performance in Asia and the United States, Prudential said in a results statement.Total sales grew by 5.4 percent to £4.423 billion, but earnings after tax tumbled by almost 38 percent to £1.346 billion on the back of falling income from Prudential's investments.Prudential also ramped up its shareholder dividend by 15 percent to 33.57 pence a share.The news sent its share price soaring to a record high of 1,440 pence, topping the risers board on London's falling FTSE 100 index. The stock later stood at 1,399.72 pence, up 2.84 percent from Tuesday."The group has delivered a strong performance in 2013," said chief executive Tidjane Thiam in the earnings release."Our focus on execution across our geographic markets of Asia, the US and the UK has delivered profitable growth and increasing cash generation."He cautioned however that the outlook was clouded by the impact of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus tapering -- particularly on emerging markets."Looking ahead, we believe that the global economic outlook is improving," Thiam said."However, investment markets are impacted by short-term volatility as the market adjusts to policy normalisation in the US."The macro-economic adjustments that we are seeing in emerging markets, partly driven by the return of robust US growth, are ultimately a net positive for these countries, the global economy and Prudential."
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