UPDATE 1-Brown & Brown Q3 profit beats estimates by a penny

* Q3 EPS $0.29 vs est $0.28

* Commission and fees revenue flat

Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc (BRO.N) reported a quarterly profit that narrowly beat estimates, helped by a 2 percent drop in expenses.

For the third quarter, the company earned $41 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $40.6 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue was down 1 percent to $243.8 million.

Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 28 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $250.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The middle-market broker's commissions and fees revenue was nearly flat at $243.0 million during the third quarter.

Shares of the Florida-based company closed at $19.38 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)