Marsh reports nine-month organic growth of 6%

Global insurance broker Marsh reported organic revenue growth of 6% for the first nine months of 2012.

Total revenues at the broker increased 5% to $4.04bn (£2.53bn) from $3.85bn in the first nine months of 2011.

Within this, Marsh’s EMEA operation’s revenues grew by 3%, Asia-Pacific by 8%, Latin America by 6% and North America by 6%.

On an organic basis Latin America topped the growth table with 12% growth, followed by Asia-Pacific (9%), EMEA (5%) and North America (4%).  

Marsh is part of the risk and insurance services division of parent company Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC). Operating profit for MMC’s whole risk and insurance services division, which also includes reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, increased 14% to $1.05bn (9M 2011:$925m).

MMC as a whole, which includes consulting firms Mercer and Oliver Wyman as well as the brokers, posted a net profit after tax of $917m for the first none months of 2012, up 24% on the $737m it made in the same period last year.

Outgoing MMC chief executive Brian Duperreault said: “For the nine months, we produced double-digit growth in operating income, substantial margin improvement, and excellent growth in earnings per share.”

Third quarter performance

In the third quarter alone, Marsh posted organic revenue growth of 4%. Total revenues increased 3% to $1.25bn (Q3 2011: $1.21bn).

Risk and insurance services operating profit for the third quarter of 2012 was $234m, up 26% from the $186m reported in the third quarter  of 2011.

MMC’s net profit for the third quarter of 2012 was up 85% to $241m (Q3 2011: £130m).

Duperreault said: “Our company delivered another strong quarter. Each of our operating companies continued to generate growth in underlying revenue, which, combined with ongoing expense discipline, produced across-the-board improvement in operating margins and profitability.”