Emerging markets, service-line growth boost Grant Thornton revenue to record high

Global acquisitions, growth in emerging markets, and key service lines helped Grant Thornton report combined global revenues of $4.2 billion during the year ending Sept. 30, a record high for the company.

“It was a very good year and something we will build upon,” Ed Nusbaum, Grant Thornton’s CEO, said in a statement on Thursday.

The performance, up about 10.4% from the previous year, was the biggest such increase for the Chicago-based company in at least three years. And it follows a trend of big accounting firms reporting revenue records due to demand across service lines and in emerging markets.  

On a percentage basis, Grant Thornton reported its biggest growth this year in advisory services ($1.1 billion, up 18%), followed by assurance services ($1.9 billion, up 11%) and tax services (about $900 million, up 9%).

Regional growth

Those numbers were helped by growth in all regions, highlighted by big percentage increases in regions with emerging markets:

• In the Asia Pacific region, the company reported $579 million in revenue, up 33%, boosted by M&A activity in Australia and China. The company also reported organic growth of 25% percent in India.
• In Latin America, the company said, revenue grew 20% to $146 million. In Brazil alone, the company reported 38% growth.
• In the Middle East, revenues increased 18% to $30 million.
• In North America, revenues grew 7% to $1.77 billion.
• European revenues grew 8% to $1.58 billion, with Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, and Poland each reporting growth of 20% or more. Grant Thornton UK reported 13% growth.

Member firm additions

Grant Thornton also continued to acquire firms throughout the world, which helped grow the company’s workforce by more than 14% to 35,809 people in 124 countries.

The company added 12 member firms in Kenya, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Haiti, Paraguay, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ukraine, and Togo.

Mergers and acquisitions also led to expansion in the United States, China, Russia, France, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Italy, Mexico, Indonesia, Poland, Hong Kong, Portugal, Tajikistan, Colombia, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.

—Jack Hagel (jhagel@aicpa.org) is the JofA’s editorial director.