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Grant Thornton network resilient in the face of global market downturn

04 Jan 2021 7 min read

Grant Thornton network resilient in the face of global market downturn

KUALA LUMPUR – 4 January 2021: Grant Thornton International Ltd announced global revenues of USD5.76 billion for the financial year ended 30 September 2020, up 0.6% on 2019. This represents growth of 1.6% and USD5.81 billion in constant currency terms*.

In particular:

  • Long-term investment in strategic growth markets continues to deliver with double-digit growth in key countries, such as Brazil (+33.4%), Germany (11.9%), India (+14.8%), Malaysia (11.8%), and Singapore (19.9%).
  • Larger firms in Europe performed well with strong growth in Denmark (9.4%), France (5.6%), Germany (11.9%), Greece (14.6%), Ireland (8.2%), The Netherlands (9.6%), Sweden (4.6%) and Switzerland (5.4%).
  • Central European firms stood out with Austria (+13.1%), Czech Republic (67.3%), Poland (+17.3%) and Slovakia (+29.8%) delivering particularly strong growth.
  • Despite modest growth in North America, firms in Canada reported growth of 5.8% (Canada LLP) and 3.6% (RCGT) respectively.
  • Elsewhere the network saw strong growth from Argentina (41.6%), Korea (20.7%), and United Arab Emirates (10.1%).
  • Stable growth was reported across all service lines led by assurance (+3.2%), advisory (+0.6%) and tax (+0.5%).

Peter Bodin, CEO Grant Thornton International Ltd, says: “From the professional to the personal, COVID-19 has affected every aspect of our lives in 2020. Since a global pandemic was declared by the World Health Organisation in March this year, Grant Thornton member firms have focused on supporting their people, their clients, and their businesses. 

“I am incredibly proud of the determination, agility and resilience demonstrated by Grant Thornton member firms around the world as they responded to unprecedented challenges while increasing their support, connectivity and collaboration with their clients and one another.”

Thanks to the network’s investment in technology over recent years, member firms were able to switch to virtual working, in some cases almost overnight, as lockdowns were imposed by governments around the world. The network’s ability to pivot not only enabled it to maintain its operational capabilities but also to help clients respond as we rapidly launched tools and guidance to help business cope with the social and economic shock of the pandemic. Grant Thornton firms around the world responded with empathy, innovation and care for their clients.

Peter concluded: “While the outlook remains uncertain, the prospect of a vaccine next year, along with solid growth this year, puts us in a great position to continue investing in our multidisciplinary model and leverage opportunities post-Covid.”

Dato NK Jasani, Country Managing Partner of Grant Thornton Malaysia PLT comments:

We are proud to be one of the top-performing member firms in the ASEAN region, with double-digit growth of 11.8%.

Despite the challenging times caused by the pandemic, our firm chartered positive growth as a result of strategic prioritization, responsiveness towards our clients and taking care of the welfare of our people.

Besides that, we have managed to improve our office environment where we have expanded our office space that could sit 50 over staff with a training room, 4 meeting rooms and versatile social hub that could be utilised for casual discussions, meetings and even lunch gatherings.

We are also proud to mention that Grant Thornton Malaysia PLT is the Top 4 Malaysia’s Most Attractive Graduate Employers To Work in 2021, particularly in the Accounting & Professional Services category. This is the result of recognition from public and private universities all over Malaysia.

Summary:

  • The Americas is the largest region by revenue accounting for 45.5% of revenue (+0.0%); followed by EMEA, which accounts for 36.6% (+2.7%) and Asia Pacific contributing 17.9% (-1.8%).
  • Assurance services made up approximately 40.4% of total revenue (USD2.32bn, +3.2%); advisory services 36.0% of revenues (USD2.08bn +0.6%) while tax contributed 21.8% (USD1.26bn +0.5%). Other services accounted for 1.8%.
  • Mergers and acquisitions contributed USD65m with 36 transactions - more than in 2019. Split across five regions, the transactions add strategic capabilities identified as part of business planning in key markets and were successfully concluded despite the challenges of COVID-19
  • During the course of the year headcount grew by 3.9% to 58,229 people, underlining our ongoing investment in and commitment to our people around the world. This year also saw the appointment of Judith Sprieser as the Chair of GTIL’s Board of Governors.
  • Two new firms joined the network in Chile and Turks and Caicos

*Constant currency is calculated by applying 2019 exchange rates to 2020 revenues.

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