BDO International celebrates buoyant global results

BDO INTERNATIONAL is toasting a 13% fee income uplift for the year ended 30 September 2015.

The global network saw its income stream grow to $7.3bn (£4.84bn), translating to year on year growth of 12.95%, boosted by a 22% rise in its Americas revenues and 10% in Asia Pacific.

BDO now boasts a presence in 154 countries with a 6% rise in the number of its offices to 1,408 and an 8% uptick in employees to 64,303.

Martin van Roekel, global CEO of BDO, said: “The mid-tier accountancy market has become increasingly consolidated in recent years, driven by the requirements of an ever-growing number of global clients requiring international expertise.

“The concurrent challenges of increasing costs, a shrinking talent pool, the need to invest and to manage regulation demands mean that most of the firms and networks outside the six largest have very small market shares and are starting to assess the sustainability of their margins. Having to consider a merger or acquisition in order to survive is a very real eventuality.

“We have an efficient infrastructure, proven global capabilities and the momentum and power to continue at the forefront of the ongoing consolidation of the mid-tier.”

Its star regional performer was BDO USA which enjoyed a 29% upswing in revenues to take it over $1bn.

Among a flurry of mergers, BDO Austria added €8m to its revenues in September 2015 when it took on 10 partners and 55 professionals from Grant Thornton, making the firm the undisputed mid-tier leader in the Austrian market.

Its Canadian outfit saw two mergers with PKF in 2015, while in Italy, BDO joined forces with Mazars Italy in July, under the BDO brand, making it the country’s mid-tier leader.

BDO France successfully pulled off four local mergers, while its German operation announced a merger in the advisory and legal area in July, bringing the firm significant additional insolvency management capabilities.

A small but significant merger in Australia saw Foremans Business Advisers in Cairns merge with BDO in North Queensland, and the same was realised by BDO South Africa in January 2015, when RW Irish-Alliott Inc merged with the Johannesburg office.

Across the network, BDO’s revenues in audit and accounting have declined “very slightly” to 59%, while tax‘ share of the business is “more or less unchanged” at 20.4%.