Marsh & McLennan hails 'excellent' Q1 results as revenue hits an impressive $4.7bn

Broker Marsh & McLennan (MMC) had an "excellent" first quarter with total revenue rising 14 percent, exactly a year after its business combination with Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT). Chief executive Dan Glaser highlighted the firm's resilience during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The company increased its revenue across its risk and insurance services in the first quarter of 2020, including reinsurance arm Guy Carpenter which grew 7 percent to $827 million on an underlying basis.

MMC reported a 14 percent uptick in its consolidated revenue, which reached $4.7 billion, and 5 percent on an underlying basis in Q1, compared with the first quarter of 2019.

The broker's net income was $754 million in the first quarter, compared with $716 million in the prior year.

Marsh's revenue in the first quarter was $2.1 billion, an increase of 5 percent on an underlying basis.

In US/Canada, underlying revenue also rose 5 percent. International operations produced underlying revenue growth of 4 percent, reflecting growth of 6 percent in Asia Pacific, 4 percent in EMEA and 3 percent in Latin America.

Glaser said: “Marsh & McLennan had an excellent first quarter. We marked the one-year anniversary of our acquisition of JLT and are realizing the benefits of the combination. In the quarter, we grew total revenue 14% and delivered strong underlying revenue growth of 5%, with underlying growth across both Risk and Insurance Services and Consulting. We also increased our adjusted operating income by 15%, adjusted margin by 80 basis points and adjusted EPS by 8%.

He added: "Although the COVID-19 pandemic will affect all businesses in 2020, Marsh & McLennan has proven to be a resilient firm with unique capabilities, talent and expertise that will allow us to help our clients in this time of need.”