Aon broking unit reports 4% profit rise and 3% organic growth

Aon’s Risk Solutions division made an operating profit of $429m (£294.5m) in the first quarter of 2016, up 4% on the $412m it made in last year’s first quarter.

The profit increase came despite a 1% drop in revenue at the division to $1.87bn (Q1 2015: $1.90bn), which was mainly caused by foreign exchange losses. Organic growth was 3%.

Within the division, retail broking revenue fell 1% to $1.50bn (Q1 2015: $1.51bn), Retail broking organic growth was 4%.

Reinsurance broking revenue also fell 1% to $372m (Q1 2015: $377m) and the division produced organic growth of 1%.

The broking unit’s profit improvement was driven by a 1% reduction in compensation and benefits payments to $1.04bn (Q1 2015: $1.05bn) and a 7% drop in other expenses to $399m (Q1 2015: $430m).

The unit’s profit margin improved by 1.2 percentage points to 22.9% (Q1 2015: 21.7%).

As a group, Aon made a profit before tax of $401m in the first quarter of 2016, down 5% on the $421m it made in last year’s first quarter. Total revenue fell 2% to $2.79bn (Q1 2015: $2.85bn).

Aon chief executive Greg Case said: “Our first quarter results reflect a solid start to the year as retail brokerage organic revenue increased four percent and adjusted operating margin expanded 100 basis points in Risk Solutions.”