Jardine Lloyd impresses as results beat forecasts

Total revenue in the calendar year grew 5% to £1.16bn, with organic revenue growth put at 2%.

Its Risk & Insurance business saw organic revenue grow by 5%, while Employee Benefits organic revenue declined 6%, with the board citing challenges in the UK and Ireland. International Employee Benefits reportedly had organic revenue growth of 7%.

Underlying proft before tax was put at £170.1m, a decline of 7%, which the company said reflected its planned US investment. Excluding that investment, it grew by 3% to £190.6m.

Reported profit before tax shrunk 3% to £155m. JLT's underlying profit margin was down 160 basis points to 16.2%, but it increased by 10 basis points to 18.4% excluding the US investment.

Diluted earnings per share slipped 2% to 47p. JLT's board proposed a final dividend of 19.5p per share for the year, taking the total dividend for 2015 to 30.6p, a 6% increase.

"The group faces a number of external headwinds as we go into 2016. However, our focus remains on those factors that we can control and on maintaining the revenue momentum and cost control established over the last ten years," said chief executive Dominic Burke.

"We remain confident in our strategy, our platform and our continued ability to grow," he added.

The company's board confirmed its net investment in JLT USA in 2015 - referred to as the catalyst for the profit decreases - was £20.5m.

Analysts at Shore Capital said results were better than they and the market had expected despite the headwinds of lower rates and the previously announced hit to the UK Employee Benefit earnings from RDR and a slowdown in transaction business.