Aon Corporation reported net income above Wall Street’s expectations for the third quarter.Net income for Aon Corporation rose to $204 million (62 cents per share) vs. $198 million (59 cents per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 3% from the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 0.3% to $2.74 billion from the year-earlier quarter.
"Our third quarter results, led by strong operating performance in HR Solutions, reflect solid progress against each of our threekey metrics including four percent organic revenue growth, thirty basis points margin improvement and eight percent earnings growth,” said Greg Case, president and chief executive officer. “As we invest heavily in long-term growth opportunities such as our GRIP platform and healthcare exchanges to empower results for clients, we are delivering savings from our restructuring programs, generating strong free cash flow and effectively allocating capital, as highlighted by the repurchase of $275 million of ordinary shares in the quarter.”
Key Stats:
Revenue has increased for four consecutive quarters. Revenue increased 1.6% to $2.83 billion in the second quarter. The figure rose 2.3% in the first quarter from the year earlier and climbed 3.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter.
The profit increase last quarter ends a two-quarter streak of year-over-year profit decreases. In the second quarter, net income fell 4.7% while the figure dropped in the first quarter.
The company has beaten estiamtes for two quarters in a row. In the second quarter, it topped expectations with net income of $1.02 versus a mean estimate of net income of $1.01 per share.
Looking Forward: Expectations for the company’s next-quarter performance are higher than they were ninety days ago. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the fourth quarter has risen to $1.27 per share from $1.25. Over the past sixty days, the average estimate for the fiscal year has reached $4.16 per share, a decline from $4.17.