KPMG UK PBT falls to £364m

KPMG UK has revealed that its profit-before-tax fell to £364m for the year ended 30 September 2023 following a 17% increase in staff costs.

This, combined with lower levels of attrition across the sector, led to a 12% increase in headcount.

Last year 2,573 new people were hired, 1,945 employees were promoted, and around 1,400 graduates and apprentices joined the firm.

Furthermore, the company revealed that its revenue jumped 9% to £2.96bn, up from £2.72bn.

Growth across capabilities was 19% for audit, 8% for tax and legal, 7% consulting, with a reduction in deal advisory of 6% reflective of market conditions.

KPMG UK now has 833 equity and salaried partners and 17,239 employees with an average partner distribution of £786,000.

Jon Holt, chief executive and senior partner, said: “Our people have worked exceptionally hard to deliver strong revenue growth against a challenging economic backdrop. Digitisation and emerging technologies are at the forefront of our clients’ minds, and we have the expertise to meet demand and help them gain a competitive edge.

“I am confident that our long-term strategy is delivering and putting the right foundations in place to transform the business for future, sustainable growth. When I came in as Chief Executive, I set out a plan to invest for the long term and build a resilient, sustainable business, this includes working even closer with our global network.”

He added: “Bringing together our two firms would give us more collective power to invest, build new services for our clients and provide our people with significant global career opportunities. Together, we would grow faster, be more profitable and do so in a sustainable way.

“The decisions we made in 2023 have been about transforming our business and putting ourselves on a strong footing that positions us for growth in 2024 and beyond.”