“We’re seeing Prudential emerge as a company that will displace some of the other popular names in the portfolio.”

Insurance and investment giant Prudential Financial Inc. said Wednesday that profit from financial services soared 52 percent in the first quarter of 2007.

Prudential said its financial services profit in the quarter was $1.03 billion, or $2.18 a share, compared with $675 million, or $1.38 a share, for the same period in 2006.

For the three months ended March 31, after-tax adjusted operating profit was $868 million, or $1.85 a share, compared with $669 million, or $1.36 a share, a year earlier. That beat the $1.65 consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Read more

Original post by The Associated Press