PKF gained the most overall clients listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2022. The global firm obtained 15 new clients, with 18 engagements and three departures during the year. Three PKF member firms contributed to the overall gains of the auditor network. PKF Littlejohn LLP had 16 new engagements while PKF UK LLP and Ireland-based PKF O’Connor Leddy & Holmes gained one new LSE client each.
Top 10 Firms
The top ten auditor networks by LSE client count are the Big Four, Grant Thornton, BDO, RSM, Mazars, PKF, and Crowe. Overall, there were a total of 90 engagements and 117 departures among these top ten firms.
Five firms saw net client gains in 2022 with PKF leading the way. EY had the next highest gain in clients with five net engagements. RSM followed with four net engagements while Crowe and Mazars each gained two and one, respectively.
The remaining five firms each saw a net decrease in their LSE client count. Deloitte experienced the most net losses, losing 18 clients overall in 2022. KPMG and BDO also saw large client losses during the year losing a net of 14 and 13 clients, respectively. Grant Thornton had 13 departures and six engagements, totaling a net loss of seven clients. PwC had 17 departures and 15 engagements for a net loss of two clients.
Net Auditor Engagements
As previously mentioned, PKF pulled in the most net clients of any firm. Following second was Shipleys LLP, a UK-based firm with offices in London and Godalming. The firm gained a net of seven clients during the year. EY and MHA MacIntyre Hudson tied for third with five net client gains each. RSM ranked fifth with five engagements and one departure during the year for a net gain of four clients.
EY was the only Big Four firm with a positive net gain of LSE clients in 2022. The firm gained a net total of five new clients overall with 15 engagements and ten departures. Conversely, Deloitte saw the most net client losses among the Big Four with 24 departures and only six new engagements in 2022.
Market Cap and Audit Fee Gains
EY saw the largest net market cap gains by far in 2022, pulling in over €28.5 billion from their new engagements. The vast majority of this gain came from China Pacific Insurance Co. (CPIC), China’s leading comprehensive insurance group. CPIC engaged EY’s Beijing firm as their new external auditor in June 2022. This engagement alone added €28.2 billion to EY’s market cap gains.
EY also topped the charts for net audit fee gains. While CPIC added €3.5 million to their total audit fees, the majority of EY’s gains came from Old Mutual Limited. Old Mutual engaged EY’s South African firm as its external auditor in March 2022, after having been audited by KPMG for 23 years. As South Africa’s first mutual life insurance company, Old Mutual contributed over €20.8 million in audit fees to EY’s total.
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