PwC has posted record revenue of $2.6 billion, up 11 per cent, driven by steady growth across the firm's assurance, consulting and financial advisory businesses.
The divisions all grew revenue between 10 per cent and 13 per cent, said CEO Luke Sayers in an annual trading update.
"I think the 11 per cent top-line growth result is a very, very good [result]. And I think it demonstrates the confidence that our clients and the market more broadly puts in our partners and our teams each and every day," Mr Sayers said.
The year ending June "was the third year of our four-year strategy which meant our focus was on deepening capabilities and consolidating investments rather than broadening or adding", he said.
The partnership, like its peers Deloitte, EY and KPMG, does not break out figures beyond top-line revenue, but Mr Sayers said profitability across the three divisions was broadly similar.
The election hurt business in the second half of the firm's June-end financial year, a similar situation that has already been reported by rivals Deloitte and KPMG.
"So the first six months [July to December], it was significantly stronger, and the second six months through the election process at the state and federal [level] we saw a softening. Over the last four to six weeks we've seen some confidence return," Mr Sayers said.
The elections particularly hit PwC's government practice, which posted "slower growth ... partly driven by the federal and two state governments moving into caretaker mode prior to elections, resulting in a reduction in market activity".
Mr Sayers forecast another year of growth for the firm, the country's largest consultancy, following the Coalition's federal election victory.
The stability created by the federal election outcome has resulted in a stronger sense of confidence in terms of what business can expect and the possibilities of what can be achieved in the next few years," he said.
Three wins and a loss
The firm's audit business won three new clients but lost one client during the year.
PwC won the global audit of BUPA, a role that was worth $1.5 million in 2018 to KPMG. PwC also won the right to be global auditor to Credit-Suisse (from KPMG) and Anglo American (from Deloitte). However, PwC lost the Swiss Re audit to KPMG.
All four audits were put up for tender due to European Union rules around mandatory auditor rotation.
Mr Sayers welcomed the current broad-ranging inquiry into audit quality and emphasised that the firm's auditing practice was not a "loss leader" at the firm.
"The audit and assurance business is broadly equal in profitability to the other businesses within the PwC family," he said.
The CEO said he was particularly proud of the firm's work in alleviating homelessness, which has been a key focus at the firm for the past 12 months.
"We're trying to lean into how do we help solve homelessness across the country. It's a real issue for Australia and we very much believe that we have a role to play in helping solve that," he said.
"We're not arrogant enough to think that we on our own can can solve it. We have skills and resources and perspectives, and a great hunger and desire to lean into [trying to] move the needle on homelessness."
Sourced from AFR.com