WTW, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.
“We started 2024 with solid first quarter results that, together with our robust pipeline and continued progress transforming our businesses, position us well to achieve our goals for the year,” said Carl Hess, WTW’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our successful strategic execution and strong demand for our industry-leading solutions drove healthy organic growth, with solid margins and earnings per share. We also maintained our disciplined approach to capital allocation, with $101 million of share repurchases during the quarter. Looking ahead, we are confident in our ability to deliver on our commitments, backed by our focus on strategic growth initiatives and operating efficiency.”
Revenue was $2.34 billion for the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 4% as compared to $2.24 billion for the same period in the prior year. Foreign currency did not meaningfully impact the revenue increase for the quarter. On an organic basis, revenue increased 5%. See Supplemental Segment Information on page 8 for additional detail on book-of-business settlements and interest income included in revenue.
Net Income for the first quarter of 2024 was $194 million, a decrease of 6% compared to Net Income of $206 million in the prior-year first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $568 million, or 24.3% of revenue, an increase of 13%, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $503 million, or 22.4% of revenue, in the prior-year first quarter. The U.S. GAAP tax rate for the first quarter was 19.9%, and the adjusted income tax rate for the first quarter used in calculating adjusted diluted earnings per share was 22.4%.
Outlook
Based on current and anticipated market conditions, the Company’s full-year targets for 2024, consistent with those targets that have been previously provided, are as follows. Refer to the Supplemental Slides for additional detail.
- Expect to deliver revenue of $9.9 billion or greater and mid-single digit organic revenue growth for the full year 2024
- Expect to deliver adjusted operating margin of 22.5% – 23.5% for the full year 2024
- Expect to deliver adjusted diluted earnings per share of $15.40 – $17.00 for the full year 2024
- Expect approximately $88 million in non-cash pension income for the full year 2024
- Expect a foreign currency headwind on adjusted earnings per share of approximately $0.05 for the full year 2024 at today’s rates
- Expect to deliver approximately $425 million of cumulative run-rate savings from the Transformation program by the end of 2024 with total program costs of $1.125 billion.