KPMG closes FTSE 100 audit gap on PwC

The largest FTSE 100 shake-up in recent memory has seen KPMG close the gap between itself and frontrunner PwC in terms of blue-chip audits.

On Christmas Eve, 14 companies will change positions in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices after FTSE chiefs completed a quarterly review yesterday.

PwC still holds the biggest share of audits with 40, but KPMG now signs off the books on 24 of the UK's 100 biggest companies in terms of market capital.

Deloitte and Ernst & Young now both have 18 FTSE 100 audits each.

Cairn Energy, Kelda, TUI Travel, FirstGroup, G4S, Admiral and Thomas Cook entered the FTSE 100 as a result of the review.

The effects of Northern Rock's exposure to the sub-prime crisis hit home as the lender became one of the highest casualties of the shake-up.

In total, the Daily Mail group, DSG International and Barratt Developments, audited by Deloitte; Northern Rock and Tate & Lyle, audited by PwC; together with Mitchell & Butlers and Punch Taverns, audited by E&Y were relegated from the FTSE 100.

Despite Deloitte making ground on PwC, the leading Big Four firm still dwarfs its rivals in terms of Big Four audits, which is sure to fan the flames of the audit concentration debate that has raged in the accountancy profession during recent times.

Further reading:

PwC still king of FTSE