Deloitte upbeat despite lower partner profits
DELOITTE, one of the Big Four accountancy firms, has seen UK revenues fall for the second year in a row in the face of challenging markets and a difficult economic environment.
The global firm posted £1.95bn in UK revenue for the year ended 31 May, marking a £16m fall from last year.
“Despite a second successive year of very challenging markets for Deloitte and our clients, we are emerging from the recession with a very satisfactory performance,” said Deloitte senior partner and chief executive officer John Connolly.
Connolly, said that revenue in Deloitte’s UK corporate finance division was up 10.6 per cent during the year, while income in the firm’s UK consulting business fell by four per cent and the group’s tax division saw revenue decrease by 2.3 per cent.
Also, Deloitte’s UK auditing business posted a 2.9 per cent decline in revenue, despite winning FTSE 100 companies Kingfisher and Essar Energy as new audit clients.
Connolly said that although the economic environment remained fragile, he anticipated a return to revenue growth for the firm’s audit, tax and consulting business by 2011.
Meanwhile, Deloitte added 750 people to its roster during the year after bolstering its business through a series of acquisitions, most notably its January merger with property consultants, Drivers Jonas.
Deloitte also added advisory firm ReportSource and Swiss group Exsigno to its consultancy division and expanded its risk and security business through the acquisition of IM Global and Simulstrat.
Connolly added: “We will continue to look for opportunities to bring in highly skilled people who enable us to offer increased range and depth of advice to a broader number of clients.”
Partners earned £873,000 in profits last year after pensions and annuities payable to retired partners, marking a drop from 2009 when partners earned £883,000.
FAST FACTS | DELOITTE UK INCOME
Overall 2010 revenue fell £16m to £1.95bn.
Corporate finance revenue up 10.6 per cent.
Consultancy revenue down four per cent.
Audit income fell 2.9 per cent.
Tax revenue down by 2.3 per cent.