HONG KONG, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- KPMG International (KPMG) today announced record-high aggregated revenues of US$23.42 billion for the fiscal year ended 30 September 2013, representing a 3.7% increase in local currency terms over the previous year.
Michael J. Andrew, Chairman, KPMG International, commented:
"Over the past year we have seen the first widespread signs of economic confidence returning to clients and this has led to improving demand for services around the world, accelerating growth in the second half of the year. Continuing to make significant investments in a difficult economic period while delivering operating efficiencies has ensured we are well-placed to meet this upturn in demand, and will drive stronger growth in the future. We are delighted to report record revenues in target high-growth markets. KPMG has a longstanding commitment to supporting clients in the world's fastest growing economies and this focus drove 16.3% annual growth in revenues in India, 14.3% in Mexico, 13.1% in Africa and 10% in China."
The Americas delivered strong growth over the year, with revenues rising by 6.7% driven by a 16.4% growth in Advisory revenues, 7.4% increase in Tax and a 0.3% increase in Audit revenues. EMA revenues grew by 2.6% with strongest growth in Germany, Ireland and Switzerland as many of the region's leading economies returned to growth. The Asia Pacific region reported revenue growth of 1.1%, reflecting the difficult economic situation affecting some of the largest economies in the region and the slow IPO market, a traditional strength of KPMG.
Strong growth in Audit, Tax and Advisory
Audit
While the global audit market remains challenging, and competition for audit engagements intense, KPMG's global Audit function performed strongly with member firm revenue increasing by 1.2% to $10.21 billion.
"The number of significant audit appointments during the last year includes: Downer EDI, ICBC, Lend Lease, Panasonic, PetroChina, Syngenta, and Unilever. We maintain a vigorous commitment to continuous improvement in audit quality. We have invested over $225 million in audit over the past five years and plan to invest at least as much again in the next five years," said Michael Andrew.
Tax
Tax revenues rose by 4.2% to $4.97 billion driven by an increased demand for tax compliance and tax advisory services in the Americas and EMA. KPMG also led the way in responding to the global debate on tax morality, with the publication of Global Tax Principles, setting out the standards which KPMG tax professionals follow in their work for tax clients.
Advisory
Total Advisory revenues for the year were up by 6.5% to $8.24 billion, buoyed by strengthening demand for KPMG's Management Consulting services, which delivered 14.2% growth on the prior year. Client demand for KPMG's Risk Consulting services also continued to grow strongly, up by 6.8% from FY12.
Data and Analytics services saw a sharp increase in demand. As just one example, KPMG professionals helped one of China's largest insurance firms transform their business, enriching data to better understand and meet their customers' changing needs.
Investing for future growth
KPMG continues to make significant investments targeted at long term, sustainable growth and is almost half way through a five year global investment program totalling around $1 billion focused on our core global audit platform, high-growth markets and developing new services such as Data and Analytics.
A leading choice for talent
KPMG maintained its long-standing focus on recruiting top talent in FY13, recruiting over 45,000 graduates and experienced hires. KPMG's global workforce grew almost 3,000 to more than 155,000 partners and staff, the highest number of individuals ever employed across the network.
With its strong focus on training and career development, KPMG remains a leading choice for graduate talent, and was once again voted in the Top 10 Global Employers in the Universum poll of around 200,000 degree students.
Other FY13 highlights:
