LONDON (Reuters) - Insurance and reinsurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (L:JLT) Plc has reduced group profit expectations for 2015, citing a fall in underlying trading profit in its UK employee benefits business and the impact of stronger sterling.
The company said on Tuesday that the third quarter decline in that business segment was caused in part by "a significant slowdown in project work and new business due to the uncertainty created by government-led changes to the UK occupational pensions market".
Full year revenues in the UK Employee Benefits business are expected to fall by a mid-to-high single digit percentage on 2014 and trading profit (in pounds, millions) will be in the low to mid-teens, JLT said.
That slower growth was partially offset by profit growth in the firm's risk and insurance businesses, lower net investment spending in the United States and cost reduction initiatives.
"While the recent performance of our UK Employee Benefits business is clearly disappointing, we are confident of returning this business to long-term growth," JLT Group Chief Executive Dominic Burke said.
JLT expects full year organic revenue growth in its risk and insurance businesses to be in line with historical levels, despite s weak insurance and reinsurance rating environment and falling levels of capital investment by companies, particularly those hit by falling commodity prices.