Insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC) posted a profit for the third-quarter, as significant reduction in costs offset the lower revenues.
The New York-based company's net income attributable to MMC was $221 million or $0.41 per share, compared to a loss of $8 million or $0.02 per share in the prior year quarter.
Net income from continuing operations was $221 million or $0.40 per share, up from $17 million or $0.03 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted income, net of tax, more than doubled to $260 million from $110 million in the last year. Earnings per share, on an adjusted basis, rose sharply to $0.48 from $0.20 a year ago. On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.26 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Both GAAP and adjusted earnings per share for the latest quarter were favorably impacted by a net credit of about $0.18 per share relating to income taxes, primarily due to the resolution of tax matters in several jurisdictions resulting from the expiration of statutes of limitations and audit settlements.
Quarterly revenues declined 11% to $2.5 billion from the previous year's $2.82 billion. On underlying basis, revenues were down 7%. Six Wall Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.60 billion for the quarter.
The company's Risk and Insurance Services unit generated third-quarter revenues of $1.2 billion, a decline of 4%, compared to $1.27 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Excluding fiduciary interest income, underlying revenue was down 1%. The segments' operating income for the quarter was $127 million versus loss of $28 million last year. Adjusted operating income surged to $158 million from $69 million, reflecting significantly improved performance at Marsh.
Within the same segment, Marsh's revenue edged down 5% to $989 million, while Guy Carpenter's revenue rose 13% to $223 million. Significantly improved profitability at Marsh was a result of a substantial reduction in expenses. Strong new business as well as cost discipline led to continued growth in Guy Carpenter's profitability, the company noted.
Quarterly revenues at the Consulting division were $1.14 billion, down 14% from $1.33 billion last year, hurt by the impact of continued adverse global economic conditions. Mercer's revenue fell 12% to $831 million, reflecting reductions across its retirement, health and benefits, and human capital businesses, and Oliver Wyman's revenue declined 17% to $313 million in the third quarter of 2009.
Risk Consulting & Technology segment posted third-quarter revenues of $170 million, compared to $235 million in 2008, a decrease of 27%.
Offsetting the lower revenues were total expenses of $2.31 billion, compared with $2.75 billion a year ago. As a result, operating income rose to $216 million from $64 million in the third quarter of 2008.
For the nine-month period, the company posted net income attributable to MMC of $204 million or $0.38 per share, compared with a net loss of $153 million or $0.30 per share in the same period of 2008.
Adjusted earnings for the nine-month period were $653 million, higher than $564 million last year. Earnings per share, on an adjusted basis, grew to $1.20 from $1.04 a year ago. Year-to-date, revenue dropped to $7.76 billion from $8.88 billion in the comparable period.
Brian Duperreault, MMC President and CEO, said, "While the economic environment continues to be challenging, MMC's results reflect the effective management actions taken by our business leaders over the past year, including significant expense reduction."
Among others in the industry, Aon Corp.'s (AOC) third-quarter net income attributable to Aon stockholders was $120 million or $0.41 per share, compared with $117 million or $0.40 per share in the prior year quarter. Aon's quarterly revenues were down 2% to $1.81 billion from $1.85 billion, due to the unfavorable impact from foreign currency translation, besides lower investment, which was partially offset by a 9% increase from acquisitions, primarily Benfield, net of dispositions.
Another peer, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG), an insurance brokerage and third-party claims settlement and administration services provider, reported a higher third-quarter profit of $41.6 million or $0.41 per share versus $37.8 million or $0.40 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased to $439.5 million from $428.2 million in the same quarter of 2008.
Marsh & McLennan shares, which have been trading between $17.18 and $30.00 in the past 52 weeks, closed Tuesday's trading session at $23.37.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com