Marsh (MRSH): Q3 sales up 8% and adjusted profit per share up 10%, while its reinsurance arm shrinks
Marsh, the world's largest insurance broker and a major consulting group, reported third-quarter sales of $6.86bn, up 8% from a year earlier, and adjusted profit of $2.03 per share, up 10%. Growth came from insurance broking and consulting, while the reinsurance business fell 6%.
What happened
On 15 October 2026 Marsh (formerly Marsh & McLennan Companies, trading as MRSH) published results for the three months to 30 September, filed with the US regulator, the SEC, as an 8-K. Revenue was $6,863 million against $6,351 million a year earlier, an increase of $512 million, or 8.1%. The company also reports "underlying" growth, which strips out the effects of currency moves, acquisitions and disposals so that it shows how the existing business is growing. On that measure revenue grew 5%. The gap between 8% and 5% is a reminder that part of the headline increase was bought or came from exchange rates, not from selling more to the same clients. Chief executive John Doyle called it "a strong third quarter".
Marsh has two divisions. Risk and Insurance Services earned $4,200 million, up 7% reported and 3% underlying. Inside it, the broker Marsh itself earned $3,726 million, with 5% underlying growth (4% in the US and Canada, 6% internationally), while Reinsurance, the former Guy Carpenter, earned $374 million against $398 million, a fall of 6.0%. Consulting earned $2,685 million, up 9% reported and 8% underlying. Within it, People and Investments (formerly Mercer) earned $1,672 million, up 5% underlying, and Management Consulting (formerly Oliver Wyman) earned $1,013 million, up 14% underlying. The company renamed these units from 14 January 2026.
The numbers, explained
Profit has two versions. Under US accounting rules (GAAP), net income attributable to Marsh was $808 million against $747 million, up 8.2%, and diluted profit per share was $1.69 against $1.51, up 11.9%. "Adjusted" figures remove items management regards as one-off, such as restructuring charges and the amortisation of intangible assets bought in acquisitions, so they are not directly comparable with GAAP. Adjusted profit per share was $2.03 against $1.85, which is $0.18 higher, or 9.7%, and the company rounds that to 10%. Adjusted operating income, the profit from running the business before interest and tax with those items removed, was $1,527 million against $1,439 million, up 6.1%.
Margins tell a more careful story. GAAP operating income was $1,215 million, up 3.8% from $1,170 million, but as a share of sales it slipped to 17.7% from 18.4% (1,215 divided by 6,863, against 1,170 divided by 6,351). Marsh's adjusted operating margin was 22.7% in both quarters, meaning the extra sales did not come with a thinner or fatter profit slice on the company's own adjusted measure. The release shows restructuring charges tied mainly to its multi-year "Thrive" efficiency programme of $79 million, against $46 million a year earlier. Marsh also bought back about 2.7 million of its own shares for $500 million in the quarter, an average of roughly $185 a share, and $2.0 billion over nine months. Fewer shares outstanding lifts profit per share even when profit grows more slowly, which is one reason profit per share can outpace profit.
Why it matters
Marsh earns most of its money from fees and commissions for placing insurance cover with insurers on behalf of companies, and for advising on risk, pensions, benefits and strategy. Because it is paid a share of premiums or a negotiated fee, its sales are linked to what insurance costs and how much of it clients buy. That makes the Reinsurance fall instructive. Reinsurance is insurance bought by insurers themselves to share large losses. When the price of property reinsurance falls, brokers who arrange it earn less on each deal. The release does not break out prices, but a summary of the company's earnings call reports that property reinsurance rates fell about 10% globally in the quarter; we treat that as a company statement we could not check against a second source.
The result also shows how a diversified group can balance itself. Consulting, particularly Oliver Wyman, grew 14% underlying, while Reinsurance shrank. For clients, the broker and consultancy are paid to help with risk they cannot easily price alone, so demand is tied to economic uncertainty. For rivals, such as other large brokers, the figures show Marsh's own broking business still grew 5% underlying. Independent data service Zacks put the consensus (the average analyst forecast) for revenue at $6.63bn, so reported revenue of $6.86bn was about 3.5% higher, and said adjusted profit per share was 3.6% above its consensus. These are analyst estimates, not company figures. Zacks reported the shares rose about 4.6% after the release.
What to watch next
The release carries no formal forecast section, so there are no company targets to track from it. The facts to follow are dated and procedural. Marsh's quarterly report on Form 10-Q, with the full accounts and notes, follows the 8-K and will show the detailed breakdown of restructuring and acquisition costs. The company reports dividends payable of $471 million at 30 September, a liability the company owed to shareholders at that date, after $1,354 million of dividends paid in the first nine months (against $1,255 million a year earlier). Fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results are the next full set of figures; we have not seen a confirmed date. The earnings-call summary also says management expects the reinsurance pricing conditions to persist through the 1 January renewal season, which is a management statement, not a verified outcome.
- Underlying growth: revenue growth excluding currency, acquisitions and disposals.
- Adjusted figures: results with one-off and acquisition-related items removed by the company; not GAAP.
- Reinsurance: insurance bought by insurers to share large losses.
Sources
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