Martin Hughes Quotes (5 Quotes)

Two thousand five was a great year. Our investment in Hub's sales culture and the commitment of our people enabled us to post organic growth in the face of declining insurance rates. Our acquisition team continued to excel in identifying and closing attractive opportunities. In addition, we achieved our goal of increasing operating margins, recording a one-percentage-point improvement for the quarter and the year.

Our continuing growth in both revenue and earnings provides a strong basis for increased cash payments to our shareholders. This represents a seventeen percent increase in our quarterly dividend rate.

We are committed to continued expense management and strategies to improve productivity in 2006. Execution in these two important areas should contribute to the achievement of our goal of improving operating margins by 50 to 150 basis points for the year.

We don't see rates declining much further or a significant firming in the near future, partly because ample capital is flowing into the market after the 2005 hurricane season. At the same time, we are encouraged by the ongoing development of our internal sales culture and by our ability to complete and integrate acquisitions. We anticipate further improvement in both areas in 2006. We also anticipate that contingent commissions could decline this year due to loss experience for insurers in 2005.

We are off to a solid start in 2006, with measurable progress on all fronts. Revenue is up, net earnings are stronger, acquisitions are being integrated smoothly and costs are under control. Our strategies for long-term growth are gaining momentum.