Another quarter is in the books, and scandal-tainted insurance and services company Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC ) is still having a tough go of it. Though off a bit from its lows, it looks like the stock is simply marking time until there are either real improvements in the business or value hounds give up hope and sell out.
Total revenue in the third quarter fell on both a quarter-to-quarter and annual basis, albeit by just 2% in the latter case. The disappointing top-line performance was pretty much led by the large risk and insurance services business, where total revenue fell 6%. Not only has Marsh & McLennan suffered from lost clients, but the overall market has softened, and those declining premiums have hurt results. Elsewhere, revenue continues to decline at the company's Putnam investment management business, while there was growth in consulting this quarter.
Profitability is also not yet moving in the right direction. While Marsh & McLennan's reported net income of $0.12 a share vs. $0.04 last year looks good, I don't think that's the right number to use. Rather, I think you should also look at numbers that exclude the various legal, restructuring, and other expenses. Doing so, you see a figure of $0.35 for this quarter -- below both last year's $0.42 and this quarter's average estimate.
In my mind, the key issue here isn't the quarter-to-quarter wiggles in profits or margins. Rather, the true question is whether or not the company can succeed with its new business model -- a model that had to be put in place when scandal and malfeasance torched the old one.
There is still a need for the services that Marsh & McLennan can provide. Large clients have not only specialized needs, but global needs as well, and there should still be the opportunity to carve a profitable business from those needs. What's more, I think that most of the clients who would be likely to abandon Marsh have done so already. If that's not the case, the new pricing structure being rolled out should finish that shakeout process.
Not helping matters, rivals like AON (NYSE: AOC ) , Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG ) , Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO ) , and Willis Group (NYSE: WSH ) can all provide many of those services as well and don't carry the same potential taint. While Marsh & McLennan is at least worth a value hound's due diligence time, I'd recommend checking out those competitors as well. They're not trading as cheap, but they're profitable and perhaps not as risky.
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
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