Profits slip despite more growth at KPMG

KPMG has continued to grow across the Midlands, and winning the audit of Jaguar Land Rover was one of the successes that drove the firm’s 5% revenue growth in the region.

The Midlands performance was in line with the national figures, which showed a 5% increase in revenues to £2.17bn.

However profits fell by one-fifth, to £301m, which the firm put down to “a selection of investment write offs and one off items”. It did not release separate profit figures for the regional divisions.

KPMG’s Midlands region is made up of three offices in Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham.

Karl Edge, who became Midlands Regional Chairman at KPMG in January, said: “In line with the wider firm, our business across the Midlands delivered a solid performance over the course of the year, with revenue growth of 5%, building on the strong growth of the last two years.”

Nationally the firm enjoyed double-digit growth in its audit division to become the number one auditor of the FTSE250 and FTSE350. It also advised on a number of major deals, including the merger of Booker and Tesco.

“This year our core business grew strongly to reach record revenues following some fantastic client wins,” said UK chairman Bill Michael.

“However, we also took some tough decisions, writing down our stake in a selection of historic investments where performance has not met expectations.

“While this meant taking a one off hit in our profits this year, it has left us well placed to achieve profitable growth next year and our sales pipeline is strong.”