Willis Group Reports Earnings Rise

By Susanne Sclafane

NU Online News Service, April 30, 12:26 p.m.EST?Reporting a 20 percent jump in revenues for WillisGroup Holdings Limited, today Chairman Joe Plumieri attributed theincrease to a "sales culture" that will endure in both hard andsoft markets.

Revenues for the London-based broker in the quarter were $451million, with $436 million of that amount coming from commissionand fee income.

First-quarter net income rose 74 percent to $68 million, or 43cents per share, compared to $39 million, or 30 cents per share infirst-quarter 2001.

"We set a very clear vision for this company, Mr. Plumieri said,adding that the vision?to "deliver global resources on a localbasis"?remains intact. He also said that results reflect a strategydevoted to being "pure brokers."

"We don't underwrite. We don't do a lot of things that otherpeople do, because we want to concentrate efforts on taking care ofour clients," he said.

As evidence that Willis' sales culture will perform in both hardand soft markets, Mr. Plumieri noted that only 39 percent of the 20percent increase in revenue was attributable to higher insurancerates. The remaining 61 percent, he said, reflected the broker'sability to increase the amount of business its doing throughcross-selling efforts and the ability to open more accounts than itloses.

"We're opening at a clip of two to every one we're losing," hereported.

"If you're simply opening more accounts than you're losing, thenit doesn't matter what the rate environment is," he said.