JLT Australia’s profit grew 6.5% to $62.4 million last year on organic growth across the business.

CEO Leo Demer told insuranceNEWS.com.au the profit came on a 7% increase in turnover to $214.8 million as investment in the business delivered results.

Specialty high-end corporate business grew strongly and the public sector enterprise segment provided “good, solid growth”.

The company’s trading margin improved to 30% from 29%.

“We had very good revenues and growth but contained costs well to get a strong profit,” Mr Demer said.

He predicts more opportunities in the months ahead. Recent years have seen limited movement of accounts between brokers, “but I think that might be about to change”.

Mr Demer says clients who have not tested the market for several years may feel they should start looking around.

“They might not necessarily be looking for change – a lot of it is about governance,” he said.

“In this environment where there is a lot of change, big corporations keep reviewing their business practices and if their insurance has not been reviewed for seven or eight years, then they will think it is probably time to do it. It is not because they are dissatisfied.”

He says interest in cyber coverage remains strong, with clients concerned about claims resulting from privacy breaches.

Parent company JLT Group reported a marginal drop in profit to £101.96 million ($189.7 million) last year as costs from its business transformation program and acquisitions dragged on operating profit.

Total revenue from Australia and New Zealand fell 2% to £124.5 million ($231.64 million) due to the drop in the Australian dollar, but grew 4% at constant rates of exchange.

“Investments made in attracting talent from across the industry in the group’s core specialties such as energy, mining and construction [are] starting to make an increasing contribution,” JLT Group said.

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