Advisory services push KPMG International to 8% growth

REVENUES have increased by 8% compared to last year for KPMG International, as advisory services drove it to the £20bn mark.

KPMG International has announced the aggregated network revenues of $25.42bn (£20bn), representing an 8% increase in local currency terms. The annual results for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2016, will be published within the next week.

The group claims the growth is due to their “investments in innovation, alliances, and people”. There was increases across its core disciplines of across audit, tax and advisory services, however advisory services leaped by 11.5%.

John Veihmeyer, chairman, KPMG International, said: “KPMG’s strong FY16 result was in a slow-growth global environment. Our strategic investments in technology, alliances, and our people, are fuelling our growth across our geographies and service lines. We have also taken a leadership position in key business areas such as cyber security and data & analytics.”

KPMG operates in 152 countries and its alliances with industry partners like IBM, Microsoft and Oracle have extended the breadth of technology-based offerings for clients globally.

Tax

Tax revenues grew 8.8% over the previous year, to $5.56bn (£4.37bn), driven by high demand for tax compliance services.

“Clients are looking for help with their complex tax compliance across multiple jurisdictions, advice on indirect tax, immigration work, and the implications of tax policy across multi-country supply chains. We are leading a discussion about ethical tax behaviours that involves government, taxpayers and professional advisors,” said Veihmeyer.

Audit

KPMG firms have continued to gain important audit appointments across the globe, particularly in Europe, including the recent audit appointment for Legal and General.

Veihmeyer continued: “We have a relentless focus on audit quality and are continuing with a several hundred million dollar, multi-year, investment program in new audit technologies.”

The group is planning investments of more than $2.5bn (£1.97bn) over the next 3 years in new services, technology, alliances and acquisitions, focused particularly on data & analytics, strategy, cyber, digital labour and audit.

The strong advisory revenues for the year also rose compared to the previous year from 9.2% to 11.5%.

KPMG firms grew across the Americas with 9.6% total revenue growth, in advisory services (12%), tax (11.6%) and audit (6.4%). Asia Pacific delivered stronger growth than the previous year with an increase of 9.8% (8.2% last year), led by 20.7% in advisory services. In Europe, Middle East and Africa (including India), revenues increased by 6.0%, up from a 4.0% increase in the previous year.

Veihmeyer concluded: “We are actively engaging with regulators, tax authorities and other stakeholders, to advance the conversation around some of our industry’s most complex challenges. Our purpose in the business community is to explore, invest, innovate, grow and change. KPMG’s Global Brexit Centre of Excellence is an example of the quality of thinking and advice KPMG people bring.”

Since Brexit, KPMG has swelled its senior ranks with 40 partners and 108 directors, while Karen Briggs was appointed head of Brexit in July.