Increase over financial: Ernst & Young reports $28.7bn in global revenue

EY (Ernst & Young) has reported combined global revenues of $28.7billion for its financial year ended 30 June 2015. This represents an 11.6 percent increase over financial year (FY) 2014 revenues in local currency, outpacing FY14 growth (which had increased by 6.8 percent over FY13).

All of EY’s service lines continued to grow in FY15 ahead of their FY14 growth: Advisory grew 17.6% (vs. 14.4% growth in FY14); Assurance 8.1% (vs. 4.5% in FY14); Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) 15.5% (vs. 6.5% in FY14); and Tax 10.3% (vs. 4.3% in FY14).

EY

Strong performance in the developed markets was led by the US, which grew 12.5% to $11.2billion – its largest increase in 10 years. The US achieved balanced performance across all businesses, sectors and geographies. Elsewhere in developed markets, the UK achieved strong growth, led largely by new major accounts across its audit practice, as well as the strength of its TAS and Tax businesses. EY also saw double-digit growth in its Australian, German and Italian member firms.

EY’s emerging market practices grew by 12.3% overall (compared with 8.7% last year), despite mixed economic conditions in key emerging market economies. India led the emerging markets with 19.7% growth; other strong regions included ASEAN (12.9%), Africa (11.3%), Mexico & Central America (17.3%) and Middle East & North Africa (14.7%).

Revenue increased across all four of EY’s geographic areas: the Americas 12.3%; Europe, Middle East, India and Africa 11.6%; Asia-Pacific 11.2%; and Japan 4.6%.

Mark Weinberger, EY’s Global Chairman and CEO, says:  “This year we realized strong gains across both developed and emerging markets, despite volatile conditions in many individual markets and a slowing global economy. We are proud of this year’s results, which saw fast-paced growth across all of our businesses and in each geographic area. Under our Vision 2020 strategy, we have been very explicit about our purpose of building a better working world and this has given us great momentum both inside and outside the organization. It has helped us attract, retain and motivate our people. Our purpose has also been valuable as we engage with our clients and in guiding our successful work on their complex issues.”

Despite an uneven global recovery, and an economy with serious weaknesses and uncertainty hampering both developed and emerging markets, EY achieved its highest revenue growth since 2008.

Weinberger says: “While short-term forecasts may be bearish on some emerging markets, we are seeing strong growth in these regions. This reflects our strength and investments in those markets as we help our clients navigate these diverse circumstances. In fact, we are confident in the long-term potential of these economies and continue to expect that 30% of our revenue will come from emerging markets by 2020.”

A number of sectors realized double-digit growth. Life Sciences led the way, buoyed by strong M&A and IPO activity. EY’s global financial services sectors – Insurance, Banking & Capital Markets and Wealth & Asset Management – also delivered double-digit growth, led by strong demand for regulatory-driven transformation services and opportunities across digital delivery, data analytics and financial technology.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu