Atlantic Equities analyst Alan Devlin credited Aon for being able to stay a step ahead of rising costs despite tough economic conditions. "The earnings surprise came on margins" in its brokerage and consulting units, he said.
Net earnings fell 95 percent to $10 million, or 3 cents a share, from $207 million, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier.
Earnings from continuing operations, excluding certain items, rose 19 percent to 81 cents a share. Revenue slipped 4 percent to $1.9 billion, largely because of foreign currency translation.
Analysts, on average, had expected earnings from continuing operations of 79 cents a share on revenue of $2.06 billion.