Prudential Asia Q1 sales drop 24% on coronavirus pandemic

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Sales of British life insurer Prudential's products fell 24% to $986 million in Asia in the first quarter, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with Hong Kong and China particularly hard-hit, it said on Thursday.

Prudential, whose main busineses are in Asia and the United States after it span off its British unit last year, reiterated that it continued to make preparations to float a minority stake in U.S. unit Jackson "alongside active evaluation of other options".

For Jackson, annual premium equivalent sales were $631 million, up 25%. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Huw Jones)