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PwC posts flat revenue of $2.6bn for FY20
04 August 2020
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The big four firm’s audit and assurance business was the standout performer in the 12 months to 30 June 2020, continuing a four-year tend of revenue growth by increasing by 6 per cent.
PwC’s other two businesses saw declines, with the firm’s consulting business down by 4 per cent and revenue for its financial advisory business — comprising deals, infrastructure and urban renewal, private clients, legal and tax — down by 2 per cent.
Newly appointed chief executive Tom Seymour said the results reflected the varying impacts of COVID-19, with Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown restrictions a sign of ongoing uncertainty.
“The Victorian stage 4 lockdown announced by Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday highlights the continued level of uncertainty every business is dealing with during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Seymour said.
“The past five months have been unprecedented for our firm, as they have been for every business across Australia.
“This is affecting revenue and profitability, with varying impacts on different parts of our business. It’s difficult to predict the rapidly changing environment and we expect significant volatility to continue throughout the course of FY21.”
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Mr Seymour said the results also underpinned the decision to restructure the firm, including the shedding of 400 roles.
“Notwithstanding these challenging times, the necessary hard decisions PwC has taken over the past months puts us in a strong position,” he said.
“The restructure and redesign will enable us to sharpen our focus on our clients and their business needs as well as position us strongly for growth in FY21.
“In particular for our consulting business, we have redesigned the way we operate, aligning around four industry groups, to be even more connected with the major agendas of our clients and better tailor our services to the specific context of particular sectors as they move to new ways of working which blur the lines between business, digital and technology.”
While the firm has seen a slowdown of its consulting business off the back of larger transformation programs being paused or stopped, Mr Seymour said there continues to be a strong demand for audit, risk and governance advice.
“In financial advisory, our infrastructure and urban renewal business had very strong growth. The slowdown in major market transactions has impacted our deals business this year, albeit we are well positioned for uptick in M&A activity expected via industry consolidation as part of the COVID-19 recovery,” Mr Seymour said.
“We’re also seeing positive growth in some areas like health and wellbeing, risk and regulation, and technology offerings such as cyber-security services, software engineering capability and cloud-based services, and have continued to invest in building our capabilities in these areas.”
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