Global re/insurance broker, Howden Group Holdings, has announced organic growth of 13%, and a 33% rise in revenue to £2.44 billion for the year ended September 30, 2023.
Organic growth of 13% is lower than the previous year of 19%, while revenue increased from the £1.84 billion reported for 2022, as adjusted consolidated EBITDA rose by 30% from £599 million to £780 million.
The company completed 56 strategic acquisitions in the year, including five transactions over £25 million EV in FY23, building out Howden’s position in key markets: TigerRisk in the US, March RS in Spain, Apex in New Zealand, Théorème in France and Reich Insurance in the UK.
Howden says that 1,000 new employees joined the firm in 2023. The Group has supportive shareholders who have contributed over £1 billion of equity in FY23 to support investment for growth. The Group also raised £1.1 billion of incremental debt to support its investment programme in FY23.
Looking forward, Howden notes that it expects the macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges experienced by many of its clients in 2023 to persist, but adds that in this environment, it believes insurance can deliver the greatest value and act as a force for good.
David Howden, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), commented: “…we’ve grown by consistently and relentlessly executing on a strategy to attract and empower the best talent – both individuals and through high-quality, aligned acquisitions – to deliver standout organic growth over the long term.
“If we look back just three years, when we had just broken through the £1bn revenue mark, we set out our intentions
to be a leader in our home market, the UK, to be strong in reinsurance, to strengthen our European platform, and to
accelerate our global specialty business.
“Three years later and we are the second largest insurance broker in the UK – the biggest in reach; we have moved to
become one of the four top tier reinsurance brokers; and we’re the largest independent global player in Europe; and
in global specialty we have hired hundreds of people across the world creating a team of 2,000.”
“Our three-year revenue CAGR is 46%, our EBITDA CAGR 47% and our three year average organic growth number is
17%. I am incredibly proud of what we are building.”
“We look ahead, from a position of scale and strength and united under our new brand, with the same consistent and
relentless focus on empowering great people to deliver all the capabilities of the Group to our clients as we did right at the beginning,” Howden concluded.
