Pru dives on retreat on dividends - papers 26 February

INSURANCE giant Prudential saw its shares dive 18% yesterday after it prepared the City for its first dividend cut since 1914 by saying it has to rethink its policy on the payout, says the Telegraph. The warning came as the Pru announced a 6% increase in pre-tax losses to £483m after £1.9 billion of investment losses and writedowns. Prudential is digging into its reserves to pay a final dividend of 17.1p for 2002, lifting the total 2.4% to 26p. However, analysts now believe it could act later this year to halve its £500m annual dividend bill. WITH the news of Pru's plu...