Jardine Lloyd Thompson reports marginal increase in interim profit

Insurance and financial services provider Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group reported a marginal increase in the first half of the year.

The FTSE 250 group said pre-tax profit rose 3% year-on-year to £101.5m, as revenue grew 5% to £590.1m.

The company said the slight rise in pre-tax profit reflects the impact of exceptional costs relating to a number of acquisitions and the restructuring costs derived from merger of JLT Specialty and Lloyd & Partners.

The costs were, however, offset by the exceptional gain generated by the sale of the company’s stake in Siaci St Honoré, which resulted in an £18.5m net profit. The figure was lower than JLT expected and was affected by the weakening euro.

However, pre-tax profit declined 10% from the corresponding period in 2014 to £96.3m, while the group upped its interim dividend 4% to 11.1p.

Chief executive Dominic Burke said the firm remained confident of achieving its annual targets.

"We remain confident that our full year organic revenue growth will be in line with the previous year,” he said.

“As we look forward, the business remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable earnings growth."

JLT shares were down 0.39% to 1,012.00p at 0902 BST on Tuesday.