Marsh EMEA underlying revenue down 2%

The UK and London market dragged Marsh’s Europe Middle East and Africa down to a 2% fall in underlying revenue.

President and chief executive John Doyle said: “In the international division results were mixed around the world. 

“The UK had a challenging start to the year. The economy there and in the London market challenges persisted for us and brought down the overall growth of EMEA and our international operation.”

 MARSH 2018 ($) millions 2017Underlying revenue
 EMEA  643  589 -2%
 Asia Pacific  164  152 4%
 Latin America  84  80 6%
 US Canada  803  775 3%
 TOTAL  1,694  1,596 2%

Underlying revenue measures the change in revenue using consistent currency exchange rates, excluding the impact of certain items that affect comparability such as: acquisitions, dispositions, transfers among businesses, changes in estimate methodology and the impact of the new revenue standard (Marsh, accounts)

However, the rest of the divisions performed well with overall underlying revenue up 2%. 

The overall group, which includes consulting and reinsurance, posted consolidated revenue of $4.0 billion, up 14%, or 4% on an underlying basis, compared with the first quarter of 2017.

Operating income was $908 million, an increase of 21% from the prior year.

“We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter,” said group boss Dan Glaser

“We are off to a good start to the year and are well positioned to deliver underlying revenue growth in the 3-5% range, margin expansion and strong growth in earnings per share in 2018.”