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Mining and exploration companies are bouncing back from their economic low, and accounting firms who have continued to service them will be rewarded, according to a mid-tier partner.
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Mid-tier tips WA as accounting hotspot
10 April 2017
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Speaking to Accountants Daily, HLB Mann Judd assurance and corporate advisory partner Nicholas Guest said that the economy in Western Australia is starting to pick up.
“What we've noticed, particularly over in Perth and Western Australia, is a real rebound and interest in exploration and the like,” Mr Guest said.
“When there was a downturn in the mining and exploration a couple of years ago, and the iron ore price came off, and demand from China really came down, it became really difficult for any of the explorers to raise any capital, and it was just not an interest. But we’re seeing quite a lot of interest coming back there.”
Mr Guest said that mining and exploration companies are often quite lean internally and depend on external advisers to provide them with pragmatic and practical advice.
“A lot of these organisations are very lean in terms of their internal structures, so they don't have a lot of depth in their finance or even in their operating teams,” he said.
“They don’t necessarily have the resources to have a good finance team, so they do rely on their external advisers to really keep them up-to-date and across the regulatory requirements.”
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He also emphasised that following the downturn, these companies didn’t have a lot of cash to spend on advice.
“That is a challenge for the accounting industry in servicing and supporting some of these businesses, but they are actually very loyal to their service providers and to those who have been able to show them some support during their lean times,” he said.
“Now it's good news for the firms that have been able to continue to service them at a base level of economic growth rate, with the understanding that when the next opportunity for a transaction or the like comes along, everyone will be rewarded.”
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