Marsh parent MMC reports 6% broking profit rise for H1

The broking division of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) made an operating profit of $941m in the first half of 2014, up 6% on the $889m it reported in the same period last year.

The unit, which comprises insurance broker Marsh and reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, brought in total revenues of $3.6bn in the half year, up 5% on the $3.5bn it reported in 2013’s first half. Organic revenue growth for the division was 3%.

Marsh’s revenues were up 6% to $2.9bn in the half (H1 2013: $2.8bn), producing organic growth of 4%.

Guy Carpenter’s revenue growth was a more modest 2% to $676m (H1 2013: $660m), with organic growth of 1%.

The MMC group as a whole made a net profit after tax of $874m in the first half of 2014, up 9% n the $801m it made in the first half of 2013.

Revenues were up 5.6% to $6.6bn (H1 2013: $6.2bn), and group-wide organic growth was 4%.

MMC chief executive Dan Glaser said: “For the six months of 2014 we achieved outstanding results, with 4% underlying revenue growth, an 11% increase in adjusted operating income and margin improvement of 100 basis points to 20.4%.”

‘Strongest quarter for two years’

In the second quarter of 2014 alone, MMC’s broking unit made an operating profit of $448m, compared with $421m in last year’s second quarter.

Revenues were up 6% to $1.8bn (Q2 2013: $1.7bn) and organic growth was 4%.

The MMC group profit for the quarter was $431m, up 11% on the $388m it made in the second quarter of 2013.

Second quarter group revenue increased 7% to $3.3bn (Q2 2013: $3.1bn) producing organic growth of 5%.

Glaser said: “This was our strongest quarterly revenue performance in two years, with all operating companies contributing.”