WTW quarterly organic growth slows, shares tumble (updated)

Willis Towers Watson

30/04/2026 13:07

Rewrites throughout

April 30 (Reuters) -
WTW WTW.O on Thursday posted slower organic revenue growth from its risk and broking business for the first quarter due to volatility in global markets, overshadowing the insurance brokerage's robust profit and dragging its shares 9% lower in premarket trading.

Organic growth often reflects how much the company expanded through its core business, instead of other factors such as acquisitions, divestitures or accounting changes.

"Our ongoing focus on enhancing efficiency drove margin expansion and significant EPS growth, despite a more challenging global market that created near-term headwinds to organic growth," CEO Carl Hess said in a statement.

The company's risk and broking segment recorded an organic revenue growth of 2%, while its total revenue grew 3% organically. In the year-ago period the increases were 7% and 5%, respectively.

Analysts at Citigroup said the "organic miss (3% vs. 5% estimate) is likely to cause concern."

WTW's operating margin for the first quarter also dipped about 80 basis points from the year-ago period.

The company, which operates in about 140 countries and markets, reported a negative free cash flow of $65 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a negative of $86 million a year earlier.

A persistent negative cash flow dampens investors' appetite for the stock - which has slumped about 12% so far in 2026, underperforming the broader markets.

However, the insurance broker still managed to post an adjusted profit of $3.72 per share, beating the average of analysts' estimates of $3.67 per share, according to LSEG data.

The company said the Willis Re joint venture is expected to reduce annual adjusted diluted earnings per share by 30 cents, while the Newfront acquisition is likely to dilute per-share profit by about 10 cents.

WTW announced in December that it would
acquire Newfront
 in a deal valued at up to $1.3 billion, a move aimed at deepening its reach in the U.S. middle-market through the brokerage.

 (Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Leroy Leo)

 ((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com;))