KPMG records strong growth in FY21 in the Middle East & South Asia region

KPMG International announced annual aggregated revenues for KPMG firms globally of $32.13 billion for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2021 (FY21).

Reporting a 10% increase in US dollar revenues from FY20, this follows an extensive period of investment and focus on priority services and solutions addressing the challenges faced by businesses across the globe. Strong growth was achieved across functions: Advisory growing at 17%, Audit at 4% and Tax & Legal Services at 8%.

The aggregate revenue of KPMG member firms in the Middle East & South Asia (MESA[i]) region grew by 7.8% in US dollar terms for FY21, more than doubling the growth rate achieved in the previous year. The positive results demonstrate the deep and impactful investments that KPMG firms in the MESA region have been making in people, technology, solutions and alliances.

Commenting on the region’s performance, Nader Haffar, Chairman of KPMG MESA said “Throughout the unpredictability of recent months, our priorities have remained steadfast: we are working closely with our global network and strategic alliances, particularly in the technology space, to deliver more composite value-led propositions to our clients and meet their business needs amidst increasing digital disruption. Opportunities lie at the crux of every challenge and we remain laser-focused on leveraging them for our clients.”

He added, “With environmental, social and governance (ESG) moving upwards on the business agenda, we are making a positive impact on the communities where we operate. The foundation for our future growth is built on our commitment to diversity and inclusion across our firms. As the MESA region enters a new era of growth and progress, we continue to drive transformation across industries, and to deliver quality across all core functions, be it audit, tax or advisory.”

Dr. Rasheed Al-Qenae, Managing Partner of KPMG in Kuwait said: “KPMG in Kuwait, along with the other member firms in the Middle East and South Asia (MESA) region, played a key role in driving the financial success of the KPMG MESA region in FY21, doubling its growth rate compared with the previous financial year. While there is no denying that the teams worked tirelessly to help KPMG in Kuwait meet its goals, it is also important to recognize the crucial investments that were made with regard to people, technology and environmental, social and governance (ESG) to help keep the firm growing amid the uncertainty in the business scenario brought upon by the pandemic. It is important to identify that the markets are changing dynamically and so are clients’ requirements — and, as disruption-led changes look to shape the new reality, the firm remains driven by its values and focused on its commitments to continue making a difference and stay on the growth trajectory.”

 “The year 2021 changed how business was done. Organizations were increasingly shifting their focus toward environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters while the people’s expectations from larger corporations to address global as well as societal challenges skyrocketed. It was imperative that businesses reconsidered their approach and incorporated ESG-related matters into their corporate strategies. In the wake of how things were unfolding, KMPG in Kuwait transformed across all three functions — tax, legal and advisory — to continue supporting its clients as well as stakeholders in their ESG journey and ensured that these challenges were being treated with transparency, in a fair and responsible way. While this may have had an important role to play in the firm’s successful fiscal performance in FY21, the future will greatly rely on how committed we stay to the cause of inclusion and diversity.”-Karen Watts, Quality and Risk Partner at KPMG in Kuwait

During FY21, the global organization committed to a more than $1.5 billion investment to focus on a multi-year program to accelerate the delivery of its global ESG plan and solutions. KPMG is in its third year of a $5 billion commitment to digital transformation, focused on purpose-driven technology, people and innovation. The organization continued to invest significantly as part of its $1 billion investment in Tax and Legal technology to enable solutions like KPMG Digital Gateway.

Investing in talent is a key area for the KPMG MESA region which expanded its workforce to over 8,250 with more than 2,200 hires this year, including 80 new partners and directors. These were in areas including: cloud transformation, cyber security, finance transformation, people & change, ESG, major project advisory, infrastructure advisory, strategy & deals, risk & compliance. New partners have been recruited with experience in public sector, real estate and healthcare.

KPMG’s global headcount in FY21 reached more than 236,000 partners and employees, securing its position as a leading employer of choice and being ranked as one of the World’s Most Attractive Employers for business, IT and engineering students.[ii]

KPMG firms garnered numerous accolades this year, including leading the Consultancy-me.com rankings of the top consulting firms in the Middle East in six areas of specialization and eight industry categories.

KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG is the brand under which the member firms of KPMG International Limited (“KPMG International”) operate and provide professional services. “KPMG” is used to refer to individual member firms within the KPMG organization or to one or more member firms collectively.

KPMG firms operate in 145 countries and territories with more than 236,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. Each KPMG member firm is responsible for its own obligations and liabilities.

KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.