Aug 31 (Reuters) - Former interim CEO of insurer Prudential is the leading contender to take the top job at British asset manager St James's Place, succeeding current chief Andrew Croft, Sky news reported on Thursday.

Mark FitzPatrick, interim CEO at the Asia-focused insurer for a period last year, has emerged as the SJP board's preferred successor to company veteran Croft, according to the report.

SJP declined to comment on the report.

Sky news had in May reported Croft's plan to step down from the role he took over in 2018.

St James's Place in July reported a fall in its half-year profit but attracted 3.4 billion pounds ($4.31 billion) of net inflows in what the company called a "challenging period" for UK investors.

As of June 30, SJP held 157.5 billion pounds worth of funds under management. ($1 = 0.7894 pounds) (Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)