May 01--London living is agreeing with Aon.
The insurance brokerage and consulting firm, which moved its headquarters from Chicago to England in April 2012, reported better-than-expected earnings and continued stock repurchases Friday.
Its effective tax rate continues to be almost 10 percentage points lower than it was before its move across the Atlantic.
Aon said its effective tax rate in the first quarter of 2015 was 19 percent, similar to that of the previous year's quarter. In the first quarter of 2012, before the move, it was 28 percent, and it dropped to 26 percent a year later.
Aon's earnings per share, after adjusting for one-time items, were $1.37. Brokerage firm Sandler O'Neill Partners was expecting $1.28 a share, which was in line with Wall Street's consensus.
Aon on Friday also said it repurchased about $250 million of its shares in the first quarter and has $5.4 billion left under its share repurchase plan.
In April, Aon announced a 20 percent increase to its annual cash dividend
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byerak@tribpub.com