KPMG has strengthened its position as the leading auditor for listed UK companies, gaining ten new clients over the past quarter, although PwC's audit clients account for a larger share of overall market capitalisation, according to the latest analysis from Advisor Rankings.
Big Four giant PwC accounts for the largest share of business with total AIM client market capitalisation of £17.35bn, however it is ranked second on the Advisor Rankings as the figures are based on pure client numbers, not revenue per audit.
According to the May 2014 All-Market Rankings Guide, KPMG is ranked at the head of the table of auditors, with 394 stock market clients in total including a new FTSE 100 client and two new FTSE 250 audits.
By numbers of audit clients, PwC remains in second place with an unchanged total of 364 and Deloitte holds third ranking, with 288 clients and eight new gains. EY retains fourth position with 260 clients, after a gain of four and BDO holds on to fifth place with 220 clients, despite a loss of two.
By client market cap, PwC heads the list of AIM auditors with a total client market cap of £17.35bn, followed by KPMG (£15bn) and Deloitte (£8.8bn). BDO holds fourth place with a client market cap of £8.1bn.
PwC has held on to its ranking at the top of the FTSE 100 table, with 39 clients, worth an estimated £244m in annual fees according to the annual Accountancy FTSE 100 auditors survey. KPMG stays in second place (with estimated earnings of £118m from FTSE 100 clients), having gained one client for a total of 24. Deloitte has 20 clients at this level, while EY audits 16. The positions remain the same when ranked by the market cap of audit clients.
BDO and Grant Thornton continue to have the largest number of AIM clients, although BDO’s total is now 161 after the loss of one client and GT has 145 having lost three clients. KPMG is in third place with 139 clients, a gain of two. Welbeck Associates moves up to 13th position with 15 clients, after a gain of two and Chapman Davis moves up to 15th position with 14 clients, after a gain of three.
Among smaller firms, James Cowper has moved up six places in the rankings after securing the audit role for five Octopus Titan VCTs. It now has 16 stock market clients, as do Mazars and PKF Littlejohn.
Read the exclusive Accountancy FTSE auditor surveys for detailed analysis of current trends in audit. Go to www.accountancylive.com/surveys
