Jardine Lloyd full year pre-tax profit rises on strong organic growth

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, an international group of risk specialists and employee benefits consultants, delivered a 10 per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profit on the back of strong organic growth for the year ended December 31st.

The preliminary figure came in at £161.7m, compared to £147.6m in 2011, while diluted earnings per shares climbed to 48.4p from 40.4p.

Revenue for the period totalled £880.1m, an increase of 8.0% at constant exchange rates.

Chief Executive Dominic Burke said: "We are pleased to be able once again to present a strong set of results which demonstrate the success of our clearly articulated strategy of increasing our specialty focus and broadening our exposure to the higher growth economies of the world.

"This distinct strategy and our strong momentum give us the confidence in our ability to deliver year-on-year financial progress."

The final dividend was 15.9p (2011: 14.8p) bringing the total dividend for the year to 25.5p per share, compared to 24.0p for the prior year, an increase of 6.3%.

Divisionally, JLT Specialty delivered revenue growth of 5.0%, with good organic growth of the same amount, despite being affected by the generally poor UK and European economies. Trading profit was however only marginally ahead of the prior year reflecting the investment in recruitment of leading industry professionals.

Australia and New Zealand achieved also revenue growth of 5.0%, with organic growth of 4.0%. The trading profit increased by 8.0%, with an increased trading margin of 29%, compared to 28% in 2011.

Lloyd & Partners, the group's specialist wholesale broker, achieved strong revenue growth of 8.0%, all of which was organic, and trading profit increased by 8.0%, with a strong trading margin of 22%. These results reflect the benefit of the ongoing strategic investments made in this business.

Asian revenues benefited from the relatively higher levels of economic growth in that region, and total revenue increased by 16%.

The share price rose 1.79% to 823p by 11:25 on Tuesday.

NR