Marsh & McLennan posts loss on Kroll write-down

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Marsh & McLennan Cos (MMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which runs one of the world's largest insurance brokerages, on Wednesday posted a first-quarter loss, hurt by a $425 million write-down of goodwill for its Kroll risk consulting and technology unit.

The net loss totaled $210 million, or 40 cents per share, and compared with a profit of $268 million, or 47 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding the charge, New York-based Marsh said profit declined 20 percent to $215 million, or 41 cents per share. Revenue increased 8 percent to $3.05 billion.

Analysts on average expected profit of 44 cents per share on revenue of $2.94 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Marsh "generated strong new business results and showed marked improvement in client revenue retention," Chief Executive Brian Duperreault said in a statement. "We continue to evaluate Kroll to identify those businesses that have the greatest growth potential."

Duperreault was named chief executive in January, replacing the ousted Michael Cherkasky. Duperreault previously ran Ace Ltd (ACE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which Marsh helped found in 1985, for a decade.

In March, Marsh moved to split Kroll's corporate advisory unit into a separate business. It subsequently turned away a private equity firm, BC Partners, that expressed interest in buying Kroll, a person familiar with the matter said.

Quarterly revenue in risk and insurance operations rose 2 percent to $1.51 billion, as a 10 percent increase in new business production helped offset the impact of price competition in commercial property and casualty insurance.

Consulting revenue rose 15 percent to $1.3 billion, while risk consulting and technology revenue increased 10 percent to $259 million.