Global insurance and reinsurance broker Aon grew its operating income by 9% to $872 million in the first quarter of 2019, partly due to strong organic revenue growth in its Commercial Risk Solutions and Reinsurance Solutions businesses.
Operating income also improved by 8% on an adjusted basis due to organic revenue growth and savings from restructuring and operational improvements, partially offset by an unfavourable impact from foreign currency translation of $38 million.
Aon increased its total revenue by $53 million, or 2%, to $3.14 billion over Q1 2019 when compared to the same period in 2018.
This included organic revenue growth of 6% that was primarily driven by new business generation and retention across its core portfolio, as well as growth in some areas of continued investment, such as transaction liability, cyber solutions, and delegated investment management.
Growth was partially offset by a 4% unfavourable impact from foreign currency translation, with exchange rates causing a $34 million dent on U.S GAAP net income and a $32 million impact on adjusted net income.
Revenue was buoyed by organic revenue growth of 9% for Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions business, which benefited from new business generation globally in treaty, as well as global double-digit growth in facultative placements and in capital markets transactions.
Similarly, the broker’s Commercial Risk Solutions business generated organic revenue growth of 6%, driven by growth across every major geography, in particular for Latin America, North America and Asia.
Aon said the unit’s results reflected strong new business generation and management of the renewal book portfolio, with double-digit new business generation in North America highlighted by the strength of its transaction liability business in the U.S.
Overall, the Reinsurance Solutions revenue increased 6% to $788 million due to a 3% unfavourable currency impact, while the Commercial Risk Solutions revenue decreased 6% due to a 5% currency impact and a 7% impact from acquisitions and divestitures costs.
Also noteworthy was the performance of Aon’s Data & Analytics Services business, which increased its revenue by 14% in Q1 2019, from $294 million to $336 million, or by 5% in terms of organic revenue growth.
The broker allocated $91 million to restructuring expenses during the first quarter, driven by other costs associated with restructuring and the separation of initiatives and workforce reductions, although it claims to have saved $108 million through its restructuring efforts.
“Our results reflect increasing strength from our Aon United initiatives, as highlighted by strong organic revenue growth of 6%, substantial operating margin improvement of +190 basis points, and double-digit earnings per share growth for the first quarter,” said Greg Case, Chief Executive Officer of Aon.
“More important, we continue to strengthen our firm through investments in industry-defining content and capability, while increasing our relevance to clients, delivering strong financial results and unlocking significant shareholder value creation through double-digit free cash flow growth over the long-term,” he concluded.
