Willis Towers Watson PLC reported a slight increase in first-quarter revenue in its brokerage business but a double-digit increase in organic revenue as the unit continued to rebuild its business after WTW’s failed merger with Aon PLC.
WTW, which shed many employees before the deal fell apart in 2021 amid regulators’ concerns, has since been recruiting aggressively, including several senior hires.
“Last year’s key hires have begun to contribute to our performance in a meaningful way, as exemplified by the solid organic growth this quarter, and we continue to expect to increase production this year,” Andrew Krasner, chief financial officer at WTW, said on a conference call with analysts on Thursday to discuss the company̵
7;s first quarter results.Overall, WTW reported $2.24 billion in revenue for the first quarter, up 3.9% year-over-year and up 8% on an organic basis, which excludes the effects of currency fluctuations and mergers and acquisitions.
Its risk and brokerage business reported $904 million in revenue for the quarter, up 1.5% year over year and up 10% on an organic basis.
The increase in organic revenue reflected new business and increased business retention, particularly in aviation, financial solutions and natural resources, WTW said in its earnings report.
In the “health, wealth and career” segment, which includes the employee benefits consulting business, WTW reported $1.29 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 3.5% overall and 6% on an organic basis.
The company reported a net profit of $206 million for the quarter, up 65% from the same period last year.
The company has largely completed its personnel restructuring, CEO Carl Hess said on the call.
“We don’t have big gaps anymore, like we did at the end of 2021, 2022,” he said. “We’ll always be looking for good talent because this is a people company and good talent is how you continue to grow this business, but we’re happy with our human capital situation right now.”
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