KPMG confirms rise in profits

Business advisory company KPMG has confirmed a large rise in profits in its latest financial results, which have been released today (December 16th).

It was announced in a statement that for the year to the end of September 30th, it made a profit of £455 million, with pay and bonus pots also rising as a result.

Average pay for the 583 UK partners was revealed to have grown by 23 per cent to £713,000, while the staff bonus pool for the year rose 20 per cent to £73 million.

Despite these results, UK chairman Simon Collins stressed that KPMG is still in the early stages of a three-year turnaround plan, with the company having got a sustainable grip on the bottom line in the last 12 months.

"I'm really proud that, as a result, we have generated double-digit growth in profitability, which boosts us from fourth to second of our peer group," he said.

A vote of the partners approved Mr Collins' pay for the year at £2.42 million and the total revenues of the firm, which announced that total revenues increased slightly and were up by 0.4 per cent to £1.814 billion.

Strong departments

Advisory services were one of the strongest performing departments at KPMG in the 12-month period and saw a 15 per cent increase to £308 million.

Revenues for the tax arm dropped, however, slipping by £1 million to £140 million, while audit services saw a 16 per cent revenue rise to £178 million over the course of the year.

Consumer goods firm Unilever recently provided a major boost to KPMG after it appointed it as its auditors after 27 years with rival firm PwC. The Competition Commission recently urged companies to rotate their auditors every decade or so.

Manchester-based senior partner Jon Holt told the Manchester Evening News that 2013 has been a "strong" year for KPMG. He added: "I'm personally very excited about the year ahead, and know we are in an excellent position to be able to kick on and grab opportunities for growth as the economic outlook brightens."

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