The net loss totaled $210 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a profit of $268 million, or 47 cents, a year earlier. Results included a $425 million write-down of goodwill at Kroll, which conducts investigations and provides security and background screening services.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Marsh & McLennan Cos <MMC.N>, which runs one of the world's largest insurance brokerages, on Wednesday posted a first-quarter loss, as it wrote down the value of its Kroll risk consulting and technology unit.
The net loss totaled $210 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a profit of $268 million, or 47 cents, a year earlier. Results included a $425 million write-down of goodwill at Kroll, which conducts investigations and provides security and background screening services.
Excluding the charge, New York-based Marsh said profit declined 20 percent to $215 million, or 41 cents per share.
On an adjusted basis, operating profit was 46 cents per share, topping the average analyst forecast for 44 cents, according to Reuters Estimates. Revenue increased 8 percent to $3.05 billion, topping the average $2.94 billion forecast.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Marsh "generated strong new business results and showed marked improvement in client revenue retention," Chief Executive Brian Duperreault said in a statement. "We continue to evaluate Kroll to identify those businesses that have the greatest growth potential."
Duperreault has said he might get rid of businesses, including Kroll, that do not fit with the rest of Marsh.
In March, Marsh moved to split Kroll's corporate advisory unit into a separate business. It subsequently turned away a private equity firm, BC Partners, that expressed interest in buying Kroll, a person familiar with the matter said.
Marsh's main competitor, Aon Corp <AOC.N>, last week posted a 2 percent increase in quarterly profit. Aon's insurance brokerage operations are about the same size as Marsh's, though the overall company is smaller.
Duperreault was named chief executive in January. He replaced the ousted Michael Cherkasky, who failed to generate consistent profit and revenue growth after agreeing in 2005 to pay $850 million to settle a bid-rigging scandal.
Duperreault previously ran Ace Ltd <ACE.N>, an insurer that Marsh helped found in 1985, for a decade.
Marsh said quarterly revenue in risk and insurance rose 2 percent to $1.51 billion, as a 10 percent increase in new business production helped offset growing price competition in commercial property and casualty insurance.
Consulting revenue rose 15 percent to $1.3 billion, while risk consulting and technology revenue increased 10 percent to $259 million.
Marsh shares closed Tuesday at $27.58. Through the close, the shares had fallen 14 percent in the last year, while Aon shares rose 14 percent over that time.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Derek Caney and Maureen Bavdek)
