Daytona's Brown & Brown sets new goal after 2023 revenues top $4 billion for first time

DAYTONA BEACH ― Brown & Brown Inc. saw its annual revenues last year surpass $4 billion for the first time in the Daytona Beach-based insurance brokerage's 84-year history.

Revenues for 2023 rose 19.1% year-over-year to a new record high of $4.25 billion, up from $3.57 billion the previous year.

In the fourth quarter alone, Brown & Brown's revenues topped $1 billion. It took the company the first 70 years of its existence to generate that much for an entire year.

Brown & Brown is currently ranked by Business Insurance magazine as the world's seventh-largest insurance brokerage, based on its revenues in 2022 which totaled $3.57 billion.

The company in 2023 also saw its net income grow to a record $870.5 million, up from $671.8 million in 2022.

What does that mean for the company?

"The continued growth of the company means a number of things," said Brown & Brown Chief Financial Officer Andy Watts. "First, it means a tremendous amount of opportunities for all of our teammates on a global basis. As we continue to grow, we are going to provide them with more and more opportunities to grow their careers, which is really important to us.

"Second, it means a tremendous amount for all of our customers. We're a solutions provider so we're not really focused on what ranking we are on a global basis. We want to be the best solutions provider for all of our customers on an annual basis. So our rankings may move up and down, but the real testament is how many new customers that we can win everyday (and) how many customers we retain each day. That really proves the value that we deliver for our organization and all of our customers."

What's fueling its growth?

Watts, who gave a one-on-one interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Thursday, attributed the company's continued growth "to a combination of "winning a tremendous amount of new business across our entire organization" and its acquisition of 33 other companies this past year.

Its acquisitions in 2023 included Port Orange-based Caton Hosey Insurance.

The newly acquired companies added combined annual revenues of nearly $165 million.

Brown & Brown's headquarters campus includes a statue of a cheetah, the world's fastest land mammal, because it symbolizes the attributes the company prides itself as having in its ongoing efforts to attract and retain customers: vision, swiftness, strength and agility.

Company sets new annual revenue target

"We are extremely pleased with our performance in the fourth quarter and for the full year, in which we grew our revenues 10.2% organically (business generated by locations the company has owned for more than a year) and crossed our intermediate goal of $4 billion," said J. Powell Brown, the company's CEO, in a news release. "We now embark on our next goal of $8 billion."

How did it become a public company?

Brown & Brown is a public company whose common stock shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol BRO.

Unlike most companies that go public by conducting an initial public offering of its common stock shares, Brown & Brown never held an IPO.

Instead, it became a public company in 1993 when it merged with Poe & Associates whose common stock shares were already public traded on the NASDAQ.

Brown & Brown became listed on the NYSE in 1998.

How big are Brown & Brown's operations?

Brown & Brown currently employs approximately 16,000 "teammates" in more than 500 locations throughout the United States as well as in several other countries.

How many does it employ locally?

The company currently employs just over 850 teammates in Daytona Beach and more than 900 people total.

The latter figure includes "temps-to-perms," said Watts, referring to the fact that many of the temporary workers it hires wind up becoming permanent employees.

A year ago, Brown & Brown employed 782 teammates in Daytona Beach, according to company spokeswoman Lauren Apetz.

The company's local workforce include those who work at Brown & Brown's 11-story headquarters at 300 N. Beach St. as well as those employed at its Ridgewood Avenue campus on the other side of downtown Daytona Beach.

The 220 Ridgewood building became a regional headquarters for the company's Proctor Loan Protector subsidiary last year. The Ridgewood campus includes two other buildings at 320 Ridgewood and 200 Ridgewood.

Chamber has been a temporary guest

The 200 Ridgewood building is currently serving as the temporary offices for the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce while the chamber's permanent offices on City Island are undergoing an extensive renovation.

The chamber is slated to move back into its permanent headquarters building at 126 E. Orange Ave. on April 1, confirmed Nancy Keefer, the chamber's CEO.

What others are saying:

Zacks Investment Research on Feb. 1 published an article on its website titled "Why Brown & Brown (BRO) Stock Might be a Great Pick."

"One stock that might be an intriguing choice for investors right now is Brown & Brown Inc.," the Zacks Equity Research staff wrote. "The firm has seen solid earnings estimate revision activity over the past month, suggesting analysts are becoming a bit more bullish on the firm's prospects in both the short and long term. In fact, over the past month, current quarter estimates have risen from 95 cents per share to 98 cents per share, while current year estimates have risen from $3.03 per share to $3.20 per share. This has helped BRO to earn a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), further underscoring the company's solid position."

As far as the company's local impact, Daytona Regional Chamber CEO Nancy Keefer said, "Daytona Beach's growing business environment is exemplified by the presence of Brown & Brown. With over 900 local jobs, the company contributes significantly to the local economy through spending on housing, food, entertainment and more. Additionally, the company's culture of charitable giving and employee engagement with area organizations is noteworthy."

Mike Sibley, the chamber's 2024 board chair, said Brown & Brown's growth as one of the world's largest insurance brokerages "continues to put us on the map as a great place to live and a great place to build your business. When you consider all the things Brown & Brown has done for our community, it really is astounding."

Sibley is a certified public accountant who serves as managing partner of the Daytona Beach and DeLand offices for James Moore & Co. CPAs & Consultants.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona's Brown & Brown sets new goal after 2023 revenues top $4B