KPMG staff scoop £59m in bonuses
Secretaries and directors at KPMG will share in a £59m bonus bonanza.
The 8,950 people who make up the accountancy firm’s British workforce will share in the £59m pot, which equates to just under £6,600 per person. The bonus pot has risen 68 per cent from £35m last year, when the company gave on average £4,200 to its 8,200 people.
Staff at KPMG, whose head office is in Salisbury Square, EC4, can thank increased accounting burdens on Britain’s biggest companies for their windfalls.
The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley regulations in the wake of the Enron and Worldcom accounting scandals in America, as well as moves towards international harmonisation, have led companies to seek more advice from accountancy practices.
KPMG will also reveal a 20 per cent rise in turnover for the year to 30 September to £1.28bn. That eclipses figures reported by rivals. PricewaterhouseCoopers has seen revenues boosted by 12.4 per cent, Deloitte 8.75 per cent and Ernst & Young 14.5 per cent. KPMG has poached 12 people from competitors — out of 29 who became partners in 2005 — and this has helped it grab British market share. It now commands almost 24 per cent of audit and non-audit work — up 1.15 per cent. Some 93 per cent of FTSE 100 firms have been clients this year and the firm boasts a growth in its overall market share among the Big Four accountants.
Profits at the firm will not be revealed until annual accounts are published, but today’s announcement to staff bodes well for partners. Last year 552 partners took home £467,000 on average. It might also make the job of appointing a new chairman in Britain easier. KPMG is seeking a replacement for Mike Rake, who retires early next year, although he stays on as chairman of KPMG International.