Brown & Brown’s organic revenue grew 1.2% in the third quarter, a recovery from a decline in the previous quarter but well below the 3.5% the US broker posted a year earlier. Chief executive Powell Brown pointed to a challenging rate environment.
Total revenues rose 7.4% to US$1.7bn for the quarter to 30 September, mainly reflecting acquisitions, the company said on 26 October. Including contingent commissions, organic revenue grew 1.5%.
“The third quarter reflected the incredible efforts of our teammates to win more customers in spite of a challenging rate environment,” Brown said.
The third-quarter figure follows a 0.7% decline in organic revenue in the second quarter. For the first nine months of 2026, organic revenue grew just 0.3%, compared with 4.6% in the same period of 2025.
On its second-quarter call in July, management said its specialty distribution business had been hit by pricing pressure in catastrophe property and casualty lines, and by about US$10m of delayed new business revenue from one programme that it expected to book largely in the third quarter. The company’s organic revenue reconciliation also shows a US$16m litigation-related deduction in the third quarter and US$44m over nine months.
Net income attributable to the company rose 5.7% to US$240m. Diluted earnings per share slipped 1.5% to US$0.67, while adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 1.9% to US$1.07.
Adjusted EBITDAC rose 1.7% to US$597m, but the adjusted EBITDAC margin fell to 34.6% from 36.6%. The prior-year quarter was boosted by about US$29m of interest income on capital raised ahead of the Accession acquisition, the company noted.
The US$9.8bn Accession acquisition, parent of Risk Strategies and One80 Intermediaries, completed just over a year ago. Brown said it brought about 5,000 new employees and broadened the group’s capabilities. Over nine months, total revenues rose 23.4% to US$5.3bn, largely reflecting the deal.
Brown & Brown’s UK presence dates back to its 2022 acquisition of Global Risk Partners, then one of the UK’s largest independent intermediaries, with retail broking, specialist MGA, network and Lloyd’s businesses. The group’s results don’t break out UK performance separately.
The company also returned capital to shareholders. It bought back US$750m of its own shares and paid US$169m in dividends during the first nine months. Long-term debt stood at US$7.3bn at the end of September.
The results show how softer pricing, particularly in catastrophe property, is affecting even the largest brokers on both sides of the Atlantic. When rates stop rising, commission growth has to come from new business and exposure growth, which is harder to deliver.
For UK brokers facing similar conditions in the London market and in commercial lines, the results are a reminder that the strong organic growth of recent years was partly driven by the hard market, and that 2027 plans may need more cautious assumptions.
