Aon reported third-quarter revenue of $4.101 billion, up 3 percent from a year earlier on 6 percent organic growth, with adjusted earnings per share rising 10 percent to $3.36 and adjusted operating margin expanding to 27.0 percent.
Aon reported third-quarter revenue of $4.101 billion for the three months ended September 30, up 3 percent from $3.997 billion a year earlier, with organic revenue growth of 6 percent and adjusted earnings per share rising 10 percent to $3.36, the company said on October 28.
Organic growth was broad-based: Commercial Risk Solutions grew 7 percent organically, Reinsurance Solutions 7 percent, Health Solutions 6 percent and Wealth Solutions 4 percent. Risk Capital revenue rose $157 million, or 6 percent, to $2.7 billion, while Human Capital revenue fell $54 million, or 4 percent, to $1.4 billion, reflecting divestitures. Diluted earnings per share on a reported basis rose 6 percent to $2.23, and free cash flow was $1.097 billion, up 2 percent.
The gap between the 3 percent reported revenue growth and the 6 percent organic growth is explained in the company's own release: divestitures, largely the sales of the NFP Wealth business and Stroz Friedberg, took about 3 percentage points off reported growth. Total operating expenses rose 3 percent to $3.292 billion, including $93 million of Accelerating Aon United Program expenses, partly offset by $20 million of net restructuring savings. President and chief executive Greg Case said the results reflected continued momentum across the firm and reinforced confidence in the Aon United strategy, and the company said it expects the USI acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, prioritising debt repayment towards a deleveraging objective of 2.8 to 3.0 times in about 24 months.
The figures here are the company's own release, republished by PR Newswire, and the headline revenue, adjusted earnings and organic growth figures are corroborated by Zacks and Seeking Alpha coverage of the same release. One distinction in that release matters for reading the quarter honestly: the adjusted measures are the company's non-GAAP definitions, and on a reported basis operating income actually fell 1 percent to $809 million and operating margin narrowed 70 basis points to 19.7 percent, while adjusted operating income rose 5 percent to $1.106 billion and adjusted margin expanded 70 basis points to 27.0 percent. This piece reports both, rather than presenting the adjusted figures as the reported result.
For clients and investors, the quarter's signal is retention and new business in risk and reinsurance against a soft market backdrop the company described in its call, with growth investments and restructuring costs running alongside margin expansion on the adjusted measure. Wealth Solutions illustrates the same split: reported revenue fell 21 percent on divestitures, while organic revenue still grew 4 percent, driven by retirement advisory demand in Britain and Europe linked to regulatory change.
The next step is the expected close of the USI acquisition in the fourth quarter, which the company says will create a larger United States middle-market platform, followed by fourth-quarter and full-year results that will show whether the 6 percent organic pace and the adjusted margin gains are sustained.