Aon profits down 5pc thanks to “foreign currency translation”

30 Oct 2015

Aon’s Q3 results show a profit drop of 5pc on last year, with the company claiming “foreign currency translation” was to blame for a fall of $14m, down to $295m. Worse still, the nine-month report, posted in tandem, shows a starker 15pc drop, from $938m down to $801m.

The quarterly drop was explained by a 7pc unfavourable impact from foreign currency translation, partially offset by 2pc organic revenue growth. Overall revenues were down 4.9pc to $2.74bn ($2.88bn last year).

Interestingly, total operating expenses for the third quarter decreased 5pc to $2.3bn, largely down to a “favourable impact” from currency translation, to the tune of $162m.

“In our seasonally weakest quarter, our results reflect organic revenue growth and operating margin expansion across both segments, effective capital management and significant free cash-flow generation, despite the impact of unfavourable foreign currency translation and macroeconomic challenges,” said Greg Case, president and chief executive officer.

“Driven by our industry-leading portfolio and investments across data and analytics, we expect a strong fourth quarter and finish to the year across each of our key metrics, further positioning the firm for free cash flow generation and shareholder value creation.”

Aon image via ValeStock/Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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