Prudential plc recently announced its 2014 results so I thought I'd take another look at this popular and relatively defensive financial services company.I think most private investors are vaguely aware of Prudential and what it does, but if not then a super-quick summary would be that Prudential is FTSE 100-listed insurance group, established over 150 years ago and today it consists of the following companies:I wrote about some of Prudential's more recent history, both good and bad, in an article for the BullBearings website last summer.In that article I thought Prudential's shares, at 1,400p (June 2014), were probably close to fair value. In turn I thought that outperformance over the next few years would be no more likely than by chance alone.Now that Prudential has published its latest results the picture has changed and my previous assessment needs to be revisited.New annual results and more dividend growthFor 2014 the run of success which has characterised the company's performance in recent years continued. Net asset value was up over 20%, basic earnings were up over 50% (from a weak 2013) and the dividend grew by 10%, on a per share basis.That's impressive in a single year, but Prudential has managed...
