The appointment of Tidjane Thiam, currently Prudential's finance head and who will replace Mark Tucker in October, was announced alongside news that the company faced a pre-tax loss of 2.1 billion pounds (S$4.56 billion) in 2008 amid the global financial crisis.

That compared with a pre-tax profit of 3.8 billion pounds in 2007, Prudential said in an earnings release. The figures were calculated under the EEV standards for 'embedded value' - an accounting method for indicating the earning potential of a company, commonly used for insurance firms.

Mr Thiam, 46, is a former Ivory Coast government minister who left the cocoa-rich African country after a military coup in 1999. He has worked for Prudential since March 2008, prior to which he worked at rival Aviva.

Mr Tucker, the outgoing chief executive who has been with the group for a total of 25 years, gave no specific reason for his departure.

'Prudential plc announces that Mark Tucker has informed the board that he intends to step down as group chief executive on 30 September 2009 after four and a half years,' the group said on Thursday.

'The board is pleased to announce that Tidjane Thiam, chief financial officer, will succeed Mark Tucker... with effect from 1st October 2009.'

Prudential added that the 2008 net loss, measured according to IFRS international accounting standards, stood at 396 million pounds last year. That contrasted sharply with profit of 947 million pounds in 2007.

However, the group's operating profits rallied 17 percent to 2.96 billion pounds in 2008.

'These results represent a very strong absolute and relative performance in quite exceptional circumstances,' added Mr Tucker in the results statement. -- AFP