PwC falls to third place in auditor rankings

PWC HAS DROPPED to third place in the Adviser Rankings listing of audit clients according to the first quarter guide.

PwC moved down to third from joint second place on the FTSE 250 listing after it lost three clients and was left with 57. However, it was succeeded by KPMG which picked up two clients to give them a total of 62. Deloitte continued to lead the way in first, with Ernst & Young remaining in fourth and BDO standing still in fifth.

Previously known as Hemscott and then Morningstar, the Adviser Rankings guide, also looked at market cap of audit clients. In this area PwC managed to hold onto its second place succeeded by Deloitte in first and KPMG third. E&Y, BDO, Grant Thornton and PKF, in that order, made up the rest of the list.

There was no change in terms of FTSE 100 clients, however, there was a 7% increase in market-cap for the top-tier companies reflecting the FTSE 100's strong performance.

AIM auditor rankings remained unchanged with Grant Thornton leading the way. However, Grant Thornton saw its client numbers reduce to 158 from 165. In terms of market-cap of AIM clients Deloitte headed up the listed, followed by PwC, KPMG, Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young in that order.

Further down the list Mazars had slipped one place to 14 from 13 allowing Littlejohn to move up to 13 from 14. RSM Tenon slipped to 15 from 14.