E&Y's results stand up to competition
While Ernst & Young's revenue increase of 8% may not make observers fall off their chair in shock, it represents decent growth in what remains a difficult market.
Link: E&Y revenues grow 8% in ‘toughest market’
The firm’s UK chairman, Nick Land, was cautiously pleased with the results to 30 June 2003, saying they showed ‘reasonable growth’ for the economic climate the firm continued to operate in.
Land said three reasons had contributed to the single figure growth levels – the continued flat market, the impact of the fragmentation of Andersen, and the impact of corporate governance. The last factor, he said, amounted to a ‘reduction in the amount of work that boards are prepared to give their auditors’.
‘The market moved before the regulation,’ he said. ‘There was a significant reduction in the amount of revenue that large corporates are prepared to give to its auditors’.
The results compared favourably with Deloitte. While it recorded a growth rate of 33% in July, the vast majority of this was down to the absorption of Andersen clients. The underlying revenue increase was estimated by the firm to have been between 5% and 10%, if the contribution of Andersen clients was discounted.
And next Tuesday sees one of the most anticipated events on the accountancy calendar as PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals its UK results for the first time.
KPMG results for 2003 are not expected until January 2004.