John Doyle, CEO of Marsh & McLennan, announces financial results for the first quarter, with adjusted earnings per share of $2.89, beating expectations of $2.80, and revenues of $6.47 billion. This better-than-expected performance is attributed to robust growth in the consulting and risk management sectors, despite a macroeconomic environment marked by uncertainty.

Despite these good results, the company's operating margin came in at 32%, slightly below the 32.2% estimate. However, Marsh McLennan has enjoyed 16 consecutive years of margin expansion, and Doyle expects this trend to continue in 2024. He highlighted automation efforts with artificial intelligence (AI) as potential drivers of margin improvement, although significant contributions from AI are not expected until 2025 or later. The company has integrated AI into its processes, particularly in call centres, and is exploring the possibilities offered by advanced language models to improve its services. 

Doyle highlighted the growing importance of geopolitical risks among customer concerns, increasing demand for Marsh McLennan's services. He also discussed the company's M&A strategy, particularly in the middle market sector, where Marsh McLennan continues to build its presence in the US and internationally, aiming to bring scale benefits and improve the performance of acquired businesses.

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