Marsh & McLennan Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates on Solid US Business

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. MMC reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of $1.87, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.9%. The bottom line increased 11% year over year. See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.Consolidated revenues rose 9.4% year over year to $6.1 billion. The figure also improved 7% on an underlying basis. The top line surpassed the consensus mark by 2.5%.The strong quarterly earnings benefited from strong United States/Canada and International operations in the Marsh Unit within the Risk and Insurance Services segment. Higher profits from its consulting business also acted as a tailwind. The upside was partly offset by an overall elevated expense level.Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. QuoteMMC’s Q4 PerformanceTotal operating expenses of $4.9 billion increased 10.6% year over year and were higher than our model estimate of $4.6 billion. The year-over-year increase was due to higher compensation and benefits costs and other operating expenses. Expenses of the Risk and Insurance Services segment escalated 7.5% year over year, while the Consulting segment’s expenses rose 6.4% year over year. Marsh & McLennan’s adjusted operating income was $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter, growing 8.6% year over year but missing our estimate of $1.32 billion. Adjusted operating margin remained unchanged year over year at 23.3%.Q4 Segmental UpdateRisk and Insurance Services Revenues in the segment were $3.6 billion, which rose 11% year over year and 8% on an underlying basis. The reported figure outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4% and our estimate by 4.8%. Adjusted operating income increased 13% year over year to $893 million, higher than the consensus mark of $865.8 million. Revenues of Marsh, a unit within the segment, improved 15% year over year and 8% on an underlying basis to $3.3 billion. The reported figure outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate of $3.1 billion. In the United States/Canada operations, revenues grew 21% year over year. International operations also witnessed revenue growth of 8% year over year. Among the international operations, Asia Pacific and EMEA’s revenue grew 9% year over year.Guy Carpenter's revenues, another unit within the segment, declined 20% year over year but increased 7% on an underlying basis to $201 million. The figure was lower than the consensus mark of $268.1 million and our estimate of $269.6 million.ConsultingThe unit recorded revenues of $2.44 billion, which increased 6% year over year and 6% on an underlying basis. The reported figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.6%. Adjusted operating income rose 1% year over year to $484 million but missed the consensus estimate by 1.1%.Revenues of Mercer, a unit within this segment, increased 3% year over year and grew 5% on an underlying basis to $1.49 billion. Yet, the figure fell short of the consensus mark by 1.7%. Health revenues climbed 5% on an underlying basis, while Wealth and Career revenues witnessed underlying increases of 4% and 7%, respectively.Oliver Wyman, another unit within the segment, recorded revenues of $954 million, which increased 7% on an underlying basis. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $888.4 million and our estimate of $890.2 million.Financial Update (as of Dec. 31, 2024)Marsh & McLennan exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2.4 billion, which declined from the 2023-end figure of $3.36 billion. Total assets of $56.5 billion rose from the $48.03 billion figure at 2023-end.Long-term debt amounted to $19.4 billion, up from $11.84 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023. Short-term debt amounted to $519 million.Total equity of $13.5 billion rose from the 2023-end level of $12.37 billion.Marsh & McLennan generated operating cash flows of $4.3 billion in 2024, which increased from the prior-year comparable period’s $4.26 billion. Capital Deployment UpdateMarsh & McLennan bought back 4.3 million shares worth $900 million in the fourth quarter.Full-Year UpdateAdjusted earnings per share of Marsh & McLennan were $8.80 for 2024, up 10% from the 2023 figure. Consolidated revenues of $24.5 billion grew 8% year over year, or 7% on an underlying basis.Consolidated adjusted operating income improved 11% year over year to $6.2 billion. The adjusted operating margin of 26.8% improved 80 bps year over year.Revenues in the Risk and Insurance Services segment rose 99% year over year, and the Consulting segment’s revenues increased 5% year over year in 2024.MMC’s Zacks RankMarsh & McLennan currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other Finance Sector PlayersHere are some other Finance sector players that have reported fourth-quarter results so far. The bottom-line results of Discover Financial Services DFS, American Express Company AXP and Synchrony Financial SYF beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.Discover Financial reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of $5.11, which comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.17. Also, the bottom line jumped more than three-fold year over year. Discover Financial's revenues, net of interest expenses, rose 13.9% year over year to $4.8 billion. The top line also beat the consensus mark by 8.4%.American Express reported fourth-quarter 2024 EPS of $3.04, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a whisker. The bottom line climbed 16% year over year. Total revenues net of interest expense amounted to $17.2 billion, which also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a whisker. The top line improved 8.7% year over year in the quarter under review.Synchrony Financial reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of $1.91, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.90. The bottom line also increased from $1.03 per share a year ago. Net interest income improved 2.7% year over year to $4.6 billion in the fourth quarter. However, it missed the consensus mark by a whisker. 5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Discover Financial Services (DFS): Free Stock Analysis Report American Express Company (AXP): Free Stock Analysis Report Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC): Free Stock Analysis Report Synchrony Financial (SYF): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks