KPMG tops listed auditor table
KPMG comes out on top of listed auditor table compiled by Adviser Rankings
KPMG CONTINUES to take the top spot as auditor for listed businesses according to the Adviser Rankings guide for the first quarter of the year.
Overall KPMG increased its lead over PwC for listed client wins. KPMG had 384 total stock market clients staying in the 1st spot. This compares to PwC which held onto 2nd place but lost three clients leaving it with 364. Deloitte gained two clients to hold onto 3rd with 280; EY lost three but stayed in 4th with 256; and BDO lost four and maintained 5th position with 222.
However, Deloitte topped the listing of total FTSE 250 clients with 74, holding onto first place ahead of KPMG which ranked second with 64 clients, ahead of PwC, EY and BDO respectively.
Despite PwC losing a FTSE 100 client it maintained its lead as top of this listing of audit clients for the first quarter. However, post the cut-off date for the data, PwC obtained FTSE 100 Vodafone’s audit from Deloitte. EY also lost one client but held onto its 4th place, behind KPMG and Deloitte respectively, but ahead of joint fifth place holders BDO and Grant Thornton.
BDO maintained its place as the top AIM listed auditor in terms of clients, increasing its client base to 162 from 158 in the first quarter.
Last year saw resurgence in the AIM market with over £4bn raised, a 37% increase over 2012, according to Adviser Rankings.
“New issues raised £1.25bn, 78% higher than the previous year, and at the end of the 2013 82% of the 74 companies raising money were trading above their issue price,” said Robin Stevens, head of capital markets at CCW.
In terms of the number of AIM clients a firm has, a single client win by PKF Littlejohn meant it succeeded Chantrey Vellacott to 12th place with Vellacott moving down one place. Crowe Clark Whitehill gained three client wins to maintain its 8th position.
“We expect to see fairly significant change to our rankings for the FTSE 250 and benchmark indices by the end of the second quarter of 2014, reflecting the changes that have been brought about by separate recommendations from the FRC and Competition Commission designed to enforce more frequent tendering of FTSE 350 audits,” the report said.