UK: Grant Thornton profits grow by 40%

Leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP's pre-tax profits grew by 40.2% to £77.6 million in the financial year ended June 30, 2010.

Grant Thornton's increased profitability is based on revenue of £379.7m, an increase of 0.4%. The improvement in performance for its latest financial year reflects Grant Thornton's restructuring following its merger with Robson Rhodes and its decisive action at an early stage of the downturn which lowered the firm's cost base.

Advisory revenue grew 11.1% to £151.2m but Assurance revenue was down by 6.2% to £135.5m and Tax by 4.8% to £93.0m.

Norman Armstrong, partner at Grant Thornton in Southampton which works with clients across the south, provided his view on the regional perspective. He said: "The national picture is reflected here at Grant Thornton in Southampton where we have seen strong performance across all departments following the restructuring which took place last year. The Solent region is remaining resilient and we are seeing real growth in our Assurance and Tax practices, with ambitious local businessmen contacting us to make the most of the current market opportunities both in the UK and via international expansion.

“Rightly our corporate finance team continues to make great strides in a challenging market, completing more than 15 deals so far in 2010 and with a strong pipeline for 2011. Whilst we are optimistically cautious about the general economic prospects for 2011, we are actively recruiting for a number of roles to develop and enhance the services we offer to our clients in across the region."

Grant Thornton CEO Scott Barnes commented: "Our strong profitability and cash position creates a platform for growth as we come out of this difficult economic environment. Acquisitions form a key element of our strategy going forward, helping us to build on organic growth. This week we have completed the acquisition of litigation support and ediscovery consultancy Legal Inc which has been integrated into our forensic practice.

"Our overall performance has been excellent in these conditions. We acted earlier than some others and this is reflected in our 40% growth in pre-tax profits for the year and, against the backdrop of the recession, we have done well to maintain our overall level of revenue. We need to increase our profitability further but this was the start I was looking for in my first full year leading the firm.

"Unsurprisingly revenue for core service lines other than R&R did shrink last year, however performance improved in the second half of the year and I expect that to continue. In particular, there is evidence of a recovery in corporate finance work with growing activity from private equity houses and businesses able to take advantage of sellers becoming more realistic over valuations."