MMC reports mixed results in half

NEW YORK--Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. reported mixed financial results for the first six months of 2007.

Total revenues increased 6.1% to $5.63 billion in the six-month period compared with the same period in 2006, the New York-based brokerage said Tuesday. Net income, however, was off 24.3% to $445 million, which the brokerage said reflected the 2006 gain on the sale of Sedgwick Claims Management Services.

Revenues from its risk and insurance services unit, which includes Marsh Inc. and Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc., rose 1.2% to $2.86 billion in the first half of the year, MMC said.

MMC's consulting units reported the biggest revenue jump, increasing 14.5% to $2.35 billion, but those gains were offset by a 2.6% drop in revenues reported by Kroll Inc. to $486 million, which MMC attributed to a "significant reduction in the level of client success fees for completed engagements" in the second quarter of 2007 within Kroll's consulting operations.

Earlier this month, MMC completed the $3.9 billion cash sale of Putnam Investments to Great-West Lifeco Inc., which will allow the brokerage to concentrate on its core business and return a substantial amount of capital to shareholders, MMC said in a statement.