Here we go, folks. It’s that time of year when we start seeing the Big 4 firms releasing their global revenue numbers for the most recent fiscal year. And EY is first out of the gate.
According to the numbers Mark Weinberger and company want the public to know about, fiscal year 2018 was a good one, as EY’s global revenue rose to $34.8 billion, up 11% in U.S. dollar terms from the previous fiscal year, the firm announced today. In local currency terms, revenue in the fiscal year that ended June 30 increased 7.4%.
In fiscal 2017, EY boasted revenue of $31.4 billion, up 3.4% in U.S. dollar terms and 7.8% in local currency terms from the previous fiscal year.
EY Americas earned $15.6 billion in 2018, up 7.4% from 2017. But the region with the highest year-to-year revenue increase was Asia-Pacific, up 10.2% from 2017 to $4.1 billion.
In the United States specifically, EY reported $14 billion in revenue, an increase of 7.3% over 2017. The firm states:
The Transactions business led the growth in the US buoyed by a strong M&A market and increased demand for strategic consulting, integration, diligence and other services. Its double-digit Advisory growth was driven by areas including cyber services, digital, analytics and technology transformation, while Assurance continued a steady flow of new audit engagements, including two Fortune 500 corporations.
While EY is touting “strong growth” in all of its service lines worldwide in 2018, most services lines had bigger revenue growth last year:
- Assurance: 4.4% growth (4% in 2017)
- Advisory: 10.1% (10.4% in 2017)
- Tax: 6.4% (7.9% in 2017)
- Transaction advisory services: 13.9% (15.5% in 2017)
During the course of FY 2018, EY added nearly 14,000 warm bodies, bringing its total headcount worldwide to 261,559.
So, what did Weinberger, EY’s global chairman and CEO, think of FY 2018?
“This year more clients turned to EY for support in their digital and transformation strategies, and for our bedrock services across audit and tax. Our significant and innovative investments are driving growth and supporting the delivery of high-quality services. Most of all, our success is driven by the contributions of 260,000 EY people around the world.”
Last year, EY sat third in global revenues among the Big 4 firms, ahead of KPMG and behind Deloitte and PwC. Unless PwC had a real shitty 2018 and KPMG had an un-KPMG-like 2018, EY will probably remain in third place. Deloitte usually announces its revenue numbers in mid-September—so soon. PwC usually releases its numbers in early October, and KPMG in December.
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