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Letter (continued)
As a result of the Riedman transaction (our largest such transaction to date), our annual revenues  will be increased by approximately $55 million and we expect this could add an additional six cents to net income per share in 2001. During the year and including the first two weeks of 2001, eight other acquisitions that represented territorial expansion were closed, and the resultant operations are doing well.
In January of 2001, Ayers/Sierra Insurance Associates, Tampa, Florida, and The Huval Companies, Lafayette, Louisiana also joined Brown & Brown. Our company now has office locations in 24 states with approximately 2,300 employees.
Although growth through acquisition has been accretive to earnings and has brought a substantial number of high-quality people to Brown & Brown, we must never lose our focus on internal growth. Selling new accounts and handling our existing clients to their pleasure, thereby enabling our firm to continue to enjoy a very high renewal retention rate, is essential to consistently grow our net income per share 15% or more each quarter.
Year 2000 vs. 1999 internal growth rates were as follows:
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2000
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1999
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First quarter
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5.0%
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1.0%
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Second quarter
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6.4%
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0.5%
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Third quarter
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8.7%
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1.8%
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Third quarter
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9.0%
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2.0%
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These internal growth rates are very exciting. Part of this internal growth has come from firming rates in property & casualty and employee benefits. Bear in mind, rate increases still have not occurred in all states or across all lines of business. An ongoing double-digit internal growth rate would be wonderful!
With offices in 24 states, opportunities abound to grow both internally and externally. New and renewal rates for both lines noted above are rising selectively across our five geographic regions, outlined here:
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South
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Florida
Louisiana
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Texas
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Mid-Atlantic
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Georgia
South Carolina
Tennessee
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Virginia
West Virginia
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Northeast
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New Jersey
New York
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Pennsylvania
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Midwest
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Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
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North Dakota
Ohio
Wisconsin
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Southwest
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Arizona
California
Colorado
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Nevada
New Mexico
Wyoming
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