Despite challenging market conditions, PwC Luxembourg, the biggest professional services firm in the grand duchy, on Tuesday reported an 11 percent increase in net revenues for its latest fiscal year, pushing its turnover “comfortably’ past the half-billion euro mark.
For Luxembourg, the consultancy firm reported a turnover of 543.3 million euro for its fiscal year ended 30 June, buoyed by 13.9 percent growth in advisory services, in particular for alternative investments. Assurance sales rose 10.6 percent and tax by 9 percent.
“Despite the turmoil we have seen in recent months, we have witnessed very strong growth across all our businesses,” said John Parkhouse, CEO of PwC Luxembourg, calling the 11 percent increase in net revenue “a major achievement, particularly in a time of growing turbulence”.
85 nationalities
For comparison, PwC International in April reported annual revenues of some 50 billion dollars for 2021, up 13.4 percent. This shows that Luxembourg accounts for roughly one percent of the firm’s global revenue.
At the end of June, PWC employed 3,100 people from 85 nationalities in Luxembourg. after hiring 1,167 new staff. Its global headcount stood at about 328.000 people last year in 152 countries. Together with KPMG, Deloitte and EY, PwC is one of the world’s “Big Four” professional services firms.
“An area where we placed considerable effort last year, and where we will do so again this year, concerns the recruitment and retention of talent,” Parkhouse said. “It goes without saying that without a successful and sustainable business nothing would be possible and one of the key elements to make that happen is a sustainable workforce.”
Alternatives revenue up 23.2%
PWCLuxembourg services clients in five industries: alternatives, asset and wealth management, banking, insurance and industry & public sector. Alternatives, a major corner of Luxembourg’s financial ecosystem, saw revenue increase by 23.2 percent last year, and accounted for 43 percent of total turnover.
Turnover in asset and wealth management, responsible for 21.8 percent of turnover, rose 0.4 percent in its latest fiscal year, while that for banking and capital markets rose 4.6 percent. Insurance turnover fell 0.6 percent, while that for industry & public sector increased 5.3 percent.
PwC’s advisory practice had a “very successful year”, the firm said, reporting a 13.9 percent growth to 116.5 million euro.
Assurance, responsible for about half of PwC Luxembourg’s business, saw “another very strong year” with 10.6 percent growth to 272.4 million euro. “The lion’s share of this growth is attributable to the Alternatives industry,” it said.
PwC said its solid growth was “equally spread” over its tax services, which grew by 9 percent to 154.4 million euro.
Materiality matrix
The firm said its latest annual review is aligned with the materiality matrix of the World Economic Forum for a third consecutive year. This matrix, with the support of the International Business Council and the Big Four, set out common metrics that rest at the heart of long-term value creation and address what firms see as material aspects in terms of prosperity, people, planet and governance.
“Adopting those universal standards and disclosures enables us to unlock long-term value through greater transparency, accountability, and business transformation,” the firm said..