KPMG International said it realized record revenues globally of US$24.82 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2014, a 6.3 percent increase over the previous year in terms of local currency.
The Americas delivered strong growth over the prior year, with revenues rising by 10.1 percent, driven by 15.1 percent growth in revenues from advisory services, an 8 percent increase in tax services revenue and an 8.7 percent increase in audit service revenues.
Revenues in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (including India) grew 4.7 percent, with strong growth in Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as many economies in the region returned to growth.
The Asia Pacific region saw revenue growth of 3.8 percent, which KPMG argued was positive performance given the challenging economic conditions in many of the region’s leading economies.
KPMG saw 17.8 percent annual growth in revenues in India, 11.1 percent in the Middle East, 10.5 percent in Africa, 8.0 percent in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar or Burma, and Vietnam), and 7.3 percent in China.
The firm’s global workforce grew to 162,000, an increase of 7,000 employees from 155,000 in fiscal year 2013. KPMG's global workforce grew by almost 7,000 to over 162,000 partners and staff, the highest number of individuals ever employed across the network.
KPMG recruited a record high of 54,000 graduates and experienced hires, including 350 new partners who joined from outside. Part of the increase came from a pool of 18,000 new graduates that KPMG hired this past year around the world.
“The companies we serve are operating in an increasingly complex, global and rapidly changing environment, which demands that we provide a broad range of services and solutions, seamlessly and consistently across the world,” said KPMG International chairman John B Veihmeyer in a statement. “The quality and breadth of professional services we offer, combined with significant investments we’ve made to strengthen and broaden our services and capabilities, has enabled us to achieve strong and sustainable growth in 2014. At the same time, we have recruited 18,000 graduates and grown our headcount to 162,000 professionals.”
The audit services area performed strongly for KPMG, with member firm revenue increasing 3.8 percent to US$10.46 billion, up from 1.2 percent growth in the prior year. KPMG noted that it continues to see intense price pressure on audit engagements, and the introduction of European Union audit reforms is driving an unprecedented level of audit tenders.
“The US$600 million multi-year investment to continuously enhance the quality of the KPMG audit, was maintained and extended, and we were proud to win a number of significant audit appointments including American Airlines, Mapfre, ING, Panasonic, Renault and Vale,” said Veihmeyer.
Tax revenues grew 6.1 percent to US$5.27 billion, up from 4.2 percent in FY13, driven by an increased demand for tax compliance and tax advisory services in all three of our regions.
Total revenues for advisory services for fiscal year 2014 increased 10.4 percent to US$9.09 billion, up from 6.5 percent in FY13, driven by strengthening demand for KPMG's management consulting services, which delivered 9.6 percent growth. Risk consulting services grew 12.3 percent from fiscal year 2013.
KPMG’s Transactions and Restructuring practice delivered growth of 10.8 percent.
Investing for Growth
KPMG is at the mid-point of a five year, US$1 billion, global investment program aimed at developing new data and analytics technology and investing in high growth markets. In the past two weeks, KPMG in the U.K. announced a strategic alliance with McLaren, which will apply McLaren Applied Technologies’ predictive analytics and technology to KPMG’s audit and advisory services, and taken an equity stake in Bottlenose, a real-time trend intelligence company.
KPMG also completed a number of other significant M&A transactions in different countries fiscal year 2014, including a merger with Rothstein Kass, a New York-based provider of accounting and other professional services to hedge funds and the alternative investment industry.
Also in the U.S., KPMG acquired Cynergy, a Baltimore-based digital and mobile technologies company. KPMG’s U.S. and U.K. firms also acquired Qubera Solutions, a cyber-security firm providing services to many Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies in the U.S. and the U.K.
In Brazil, KPMG also acquired Safira, a provider of IBM business process management services.
KPMG noted that its member firms now serve more than 80 percent of Global Fortune 500 companies.
KPMG Capital, the investment fund for KPMG member firms to acquire, invest or partner with innovative cutting-edge technology businesses, announced its first investments, in the trend intelligence company Bottlenose.
KPMG also did continued investment in management consulting, with strong capabilities in key areas like HR transformation, procurement, outsourcing and supply chain management, customer and enterprise performance management, and CIO advisory services.
The firm also made continued significant investments in its global Centers of Excellence, including Financial Services, Government, Infrastructure, Energy & Natural Resources, Healthcare, Climate Change & Sustainability and Human Resources, bringing together KPMG experts around the world to develop practical solutions for client issues.
