Aon has reported a net profit of $US309 million ($351 million) for the three months to September 30, up from $US256 million ($291 million) in the corresponding period last year.

CEO Greg Case says the result foreshadows a strong fourth-quarter performance.

“Our third-quarter results reflect double-digit earnings growth of 14% in our seasonally weakest quarter, driven by underlying operational performance and effective capital management,” he said.

“We expect to deliver strong operating performance across both risk and HR solutions in the fourth quarter… resulting in a solid year of operational improvement and record free cashflow generation.”

Aon says revenue grew 3% to $US2.9 billion ($3.3 billion) in the third quarter, driven entirely by organic revenue gains.

Savings from the Aon Hewitt restructuring program are estimated at $US101 million ($115 million) for the quarter, of which $US76 million ($86 million) comes from the HR Solutions business and $US25 million ($28.4 million) from Risk Solutions.

Risk Solutions’ total revenue increased $US15 million ($17 million) due to 1% organic growth in commissions and fees.

International organic revenue increased 2%, driven by solid growth in Asia and New Zealand, Aon says. Reinsurance organic revenue fell 4% in the quarter due primarily to an unfavourable market impact in treaty, a decline in capital markets and transaction advisory business.