Broker JLT posted total revenues up 10% to £487.2m for the first six months of 2013, boosted by strong organic revenue growth of 7%.
Profit before tax increased by 3% to £85.1m after incurring net exceptional costs of £8m, including acquisition and integration costs of £3.9m and £3.8m relating to the new two-year business transformation programme.
The broker's underlying profit before tax, which excludes the impact of exceptional items, increased by 7% to £93.1m for the period.
The global Risk & Insurance business achieved revenue growth of 7%, with organic growth of 7% and total revenues of £372.2m. Trading profit increased by 3% to £82.7m, reflecting the shift in revenues and profits. The trading margin was 22% compared to 23% for the same period in 2012.
There were strong performances from JLT Re (+26%), Asia (+16%) and Lat Am (+12%). Asia and Lat Am were the main drivers of the organic growth, with UK boosted by the Alexander Forbes deal.
As indicated at the time of the interim management statement in April, JLT is in the process of changing in the phasing of its revenue and profits between the two halves of the year as a result of the timing of recent acquisitions, a changing business mix and the move of the renewal dates
of a few notable accounts.
As a result the broker's first half trading margin of 19.0% was 40 basis points lower than the first half of 2012, albeit 80 basis points higher than the Group's full year 2012 trading margin of 18.2%.
Dominic Burke, pictured, chief executive at JLT, said: "This set of results illustrates how our continuing investments are enabling us to maintain our track record of strong organic growth. Despite the weak insurance rating environment and mixed economic outlook, our clear strategy and momentum give us confidence in our ability to deliver year-on-year financial progress."
JLT said its outlook remained upbeat "despite the weak insurance rating environment and mixed economic outlook" and was confident that its "clear strategy and momentum give us confidence in our ability to deliver year-on-year financial progress.
It also reiterated that its business transformation programme, started in January 2013, was on target to deliver recurring savings of £12m from 2014 onwards.
