KPMG grows global revenue to $25.42 billion

KPMG International reported global revenue growth of 8 percent in terms of local currency, reaching $25.42 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016.

The firm reported strong growth across its audit, tax and advisory service practices, with growth in all three of KPMG’s regions, led by year-over-year growth in advisory services of 11.5 percent.

Audit revenues for the year also went up, by 4.5 percent, to $10.12 billion, building on last year’s growth of 6.1 percent.

Tax revenues increased 8.8 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, to $5.56 billion. Tax revenues especially improved in the Asia Pacific region by 11.1 percent.

The Asia Pacific region delivered comparatively stronger growth this year, with revenues climbing 9.8 percent this fiscal year, compared to 8.2 percent last year. That figure was bolstered by exceptionally strong growth of 20.7 percent in advisory services. KPMG also experienced especially strong growth in Australia, which again saw double-digit growth, while revenues in Japan went up 13.3 percent, Korea 9.4 percent and China 9.2 percent, all growing more rapidly than in fiscal year 2015.

Revenue in the Americas increased 9.6 percent, thanks to 12 percent growth in advisory services. KPMG also saw growth in tax revenue of 11.6 percent in the Americas, along with growth in audit of 6.4 percent. Strong growth of 9.4 percent in the U.S. was driven by double-digit growth in non-audit services. In other markets in the Americas, Brazil experienced 12.7 percent growth while Mexico had 8.8 percent growth.

KPMG saw more modest growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA, including India) region, where revenues increased 6.0 percent, but that was more than the 4.0 percent increase the previous fiscal year. Revenues in the EMEA region were driven by strong performance in the advisory business, which saw growth of 8.7 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. The EMEA region saw strong growth for a number of KPMG firms, including India at 18.6 percent, the Middle East and South Asia at 10.7 percent and Ireland at 8.6 percent.

“KPMG’s strong FY16 results, in what remains a slow-growth global environment, are a testament to the passion and innovative thinking we bring to our work,” said KPMG International chairman John Veihmeyer in a statement. “In today’s volatile business climate, our strategic investments in technology, alliances and our people, are fueling our growth across our geographies and service lines. In FY16, thousands of extraordinary people were hired across the KPMG network, and we continued our relentless focus on providing high-quality, excellent service.”

In terms of future growth, KPMG intends to invest more than $2.5 billion in the next three years in new services, technology, alliances and acquisitions. The firm has been increasing its headcount worldwide, adding more than 37,000 new graduates and entry-level professionals in fiscal year 2016. KPMG grew its global workforce more than 8 percent to nearly 189,000 partners and staff, the highest number of individuals ever in the network.