Arthur J Gallagher releases Q1 2023 results

The global broking and risk management giant Arthur J Gallagher & Co. (AJG) has published its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, with CEO, chairman and president J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr. pointing to an “excellent start to 2023”.

Reported revenues before reimbursements for AJG’s broking division rose to $2,375.2 million from $2,122.6 million in Q1 2022 while net earnings for the division increased to $515.3 million from $464.3 million in the prior year period. Meanwhile reported revenues before reimbursements for AJG’s risk management division increased to $297.6 million from $259.1 million in Q1 2022 and net earnings spiked to $33.5 million, up from $23.9 million last year.

“Our core brokerage and risk management segments combined to post 12% reported revenue growth, 9.7% organic revenue growth, 12% growth in reported net earnings, 15% growth in adjusted EBITDAC, and we improved our adjusted EBITDAC margin 29 basis points,” Gallagher said in an earnings release.

He noted that Q1 2023 primary insurance market conditions are overall consistent with 2022, with renewal premiums up more than 9%.

“The property reinsurance market is very hard and we are seeing tighter terms and conditions across a broader range of territories – even into casualty reinsurance lines,” he said. “And, we continue to see growth in our customers’ exposure units and payrolls.

“We expect insurance and reinsurance pricing increases to continue throughout 2023 and beyond. Our talented team will leverage our expertise, data and insights to help clients with these challenging insurance market conditions. I believe we are very well positioned for the remainder of 2023.”

How did Gallagher fare in the UK?

Simon Matson, EMEA CEO offered commentary on Gallagher’s UK broking and underwriting results for Q1 2023, citing “excellent performance”, with its specialty broking division achieving 17% organic growth and its UK & Ireland retail division delivering 7%, based on existing operations as at January 01.

He added that this level of growth was attributable to a mixture of new client wins and existing client retention. The growth in specialty was “exceptional”, Matson said, and this was contributed to by the teams across every area achieving year-on-year growth compared to Q1 2022 – with standout performances seen in its aerospace and energy operations. 

“Retail, operating from our extensive branch network across the UK and Ireland, has continued to grow its client base and alongside the organic growth highlighted, we have made a number of acquisitions in the last three months,” he said. “This includes First Ireland, which building on our existing operations has made us one of the biggest brokers in Ireland, plus FE Protect, a further education specialist broker based in Liverpool, which is highly complementary to our existing team in this sector.” 

Matson highlighted that Pen Underwriting also welcomed a new team having acquired specialist marine experts Tay River Holdings which offers the business, “a strong platform for further growth into a new sector”. In addition, during the quarter, the group has also launched a new intellectual property practice within the division which will support businesses with a comprehensive portfolio of IP risk solutions.

“We continue to grow our team ensuring our clients have access to the very best people in the market and so far in 2023 we welcomed over 300 new colleagues to our UK operations,” he said. “I am very proud of the achievements of the team in the UK and our performance in the first quarter of 2023 sets us up for another strong year.”

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