Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., a New York insurance broker, announced Tuesday that its first-quarter net income fell 36% from a year earlier, to $268 million, or 47 cents a share.
The earnings missed analyst expectations by 2 cents, according to Thomson Financial Inc. Earnings per share from continuing operations increased 13.9%, to 41 cents, 3 cents short of analyst estimates. Revenue rose 5.2%, to $2.81 billion; analysts expected revenue of $2.88 billion.
Also Tuesday, Marsh announced a $500 million buyback. It said during a conference call that it expects to complete the buyback this quarter.
Revenue in the insurance unit, Marsh Inc., fell 0.87%, to $1.14 billion. The parent company expects to close the sale of Putnam Investments to Canada's Great-West Lifeco this quarter. It announced the $3.9 billion deal in February.
Michael Cherkasky, Marsh & McLennan's chief executive, said on the conference call, "Our financial position has improved as evidenced by our ability to buy back stock even before the Putnam transaction closes."
