Insurance broker Brown & Brown tops $1B in revenue in 2011

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Brown & Brown Inc. posted modest gains in revenue and profit for 2011, and topped $1 billion in revenue for the first time in its 56-year history despite persistently unstable economic conditions, the insurance brokerage announced Monday.

Brown & Brown reported $1.01 billion in total revenue for the year, a 4.2% increase over its 2010 total of $973.5 million, the company said. The Daytona Beach, Fla.-based brokerage's net income for the year rose 1.4%, to $164.0 million in 2011 from $161.8 million in 2010.

The company's fourth-quarter 2011 results also outperformed totals from the same prior-year period. Total revenue for the final three months of 2011 was $244.1 million, a 6.2% increase over the $299.9 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2010. Brown & Brown's profits in the fourth quarter jumped 13.5% compared with the same period in 2010, to $36.5 million from $32.1 million.

In a statement, Brown & Brown’s chairman and acting president and CEO, J. Hyatt Brown, congratulated the company on reaching the billion-dollar revenue mark, a goal he said was set 10 years ago, after the company recorded $365 million in total revenue.

“To reach this goal and to nearly triple our revenues during this time period, given the overwhelming economic headwinds of the last four years, is, I believe, a testament to the strength, focus and dedication of each individual in our company,” Mr. Brown said in the statement.

Mr. Brown was named acting president and CEO on Jan. 30 when his son, J. Powell Brown, took a temporary leave of absence for health reasons.

Brown & Brown was seventh in Business Insurance’s 2011 ranking of the 100 largest brokers of U.S. business.