Willis Towers Watson's figures grow across the board in latest results

Financial results for the insurance industry keep on coming, with Willis Towers Watson (WTW) being the latest to report for Q4 and the full year – and its numbers are nothing to scoff at. In fact, the global broking and advisory company’s results were up across the board.

Highlights include total revenue increasing by 13% to US$2.69 billion (around £2.07 billion) for Q4 and by 6% to US$9.04 billion (around £6.97 billion) for the year, as well as the firm seeing 5% organic revenue growth across all businesses and 6% growth overall. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was US$544 million, a bump of 44% from US$378 million in Q4 2018. Meanwhile for the year ended December 31, 2019, net income was US$1.04 billion, a 50% increase from US$695 million for the same period in the prior year. 

WTW’s corporate risk and broking segment brought in revenues of US$877 million, a bump of 7% from US$816 million in Q4 last year, and the company reports that the segment “had solid growth across all geographies.” Nonetheless there was a standout, with North America continuing to lead the segment thanks to new business generation that drove organic growth. Internationally as well as in western Europe and Great Britain, strong management of the renewal book portfolio along with new business helped to bring meaningful growth for the segment. Overall, this segment had an operating margin of 30.3%, compared to 29.4% for the fourth quarter in the prior year.

With similarly positive results, the investment, risk and reinsurance segment raked in revenues of US$314 million, an increase of 12% from US$280 million in Q4 2018. Again, all lines of business contributed to this growth, thanks to net new business growth, strong technology sales, and growth in net commissions. The segment had an operating margin of 9.1%, versus 1.9% for the prior-year fourth quarter.

“In addition to our continued progress on the operational front, we successfully completed the acquisition of TRANZACT, which helped significantly strengthen Willis Towers Watson’s overall growth profile,” commented John Haley, Willis Towers Watson’s chief executive officer. “As we look ahead to fiscal year 2020, we remain focused on executing our strategy and confident in our ability to continue delivering significant value for our clients, colleagues and shareholders.”

Source: Insurance Business Uk