Press release

25 Nov 2021 Luxembourg, LU

EY Luxembourg announces strong revenue growth of 10.2%

Revenue of €286 million, up 10.2%, growth accross all Service Lines and combined growth over two years 24.4%

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Julien Delpy

EY Luxembourg Head of Markets and Communications

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  • Revenue of €286 million, up 10.2%
  • Growth across all Service Lines
  • Combined growth over two years 24.4%

Financial results

EY announced today a growth1 of 10.2% in its turnover generated in Luxembourg, reaching total net revenues for the financial year ending 30 June 2021 of €286 million2. Over the past two fiscal years EY Luxembourg has achieved a combined growth of 24.4%.

“Although the past two years have been particularly challenging, with the pandemic triggering an almost overnight shift to virtual working in FY20, I am proud that EY has once again achieved excellent results in FY21. Taking into consideration the past two fiscal years – during which the economy has been strongly impacted on a global level, EY Luxembourg achieved an exceptional combined growth of 24.4%, proving its resilience to unforeseen circumstances.

This success is made possible by our talented and engaged professionals who put our clients at the center of everything they do and to our anchorage into the local business ecosystem, building on our clients’ trust” says Olivier Coekelbergs, looking back on his first entire fiscal year as Country Managing Partner of EY Luxembourg.

Assurance: strong growth of 10%

The Assurance practice achieved again a strong growth of 10% in fiscal year 2021 after a record year of 16.5% growth in 2020. The increasing demand for further assurance – linked amongst others to new regulations in the financial sector, continues to be a driver for growth.

“Luxembourg remains highly attractive for international players in all industry sectors and particularly in the Alternative Asset Management. Thanks to its continuous focus on quality, particularly in the context of increased regulation, and to the strength of its network, EY’s assurance practice has gained new global clients and expanded its breadth. CFO services, controls reporting, and Forensics & Investigation are part of our growing services, along with advising and providing assurance on non-financial information through a team of ESG experts who have been guiding our clients through, amongst others, the upcoming CSRD/SFRD regulation.

Digital Audit, including data analytics expansion, process mining and robotics are among the growth opportunities for the upcoming years, which will add even more value to our audits. Thanks to our future-driven approach and our leadership in audit, EY Luxembourg has succeeded this year again in attracting the best talent to serve our clients” says Olivier Lemaire, Partner, Assurance Leader at EY Luxembourg.

Consulting: revenues increased by 5.5%

After a challenging year 2020, the consulting practice registered a solid growth of 5.5% for the fiscal year ending on 30 June 2021. Large mandates were won during the year, driven by a high demand for support on regulatory matters in the financial sector and on the managed services offered by EY to the fund industry. Beyond the financial sector, our consulting practice has also largely contributed to major transformation projects in the commercial and private sector, as well as in the public sector.

“Client centricity and the creation of technology-enabled long-term value is what drives our practice’s growth. I am pleased to say that EY Luxembourg has been confirmed as EMEIA-wide center of excellence on banking technologies, supporting our business expertise in the finance industry. In the upcoming year, we will accelerate the development of our Financial Managed Services Platform, which delivers state of the art services to the actors of the Alternative Investment Funds industry. Last but not least, we will be strongly positioned to support our clients in many other areas, such as digital and data led transformation, cyber security and ESG consulting services – to name the main topics of interest on the market”, comments Laurent Moscetti, Partner, Consulting Leader at EY Luxembourg.

Tax: robust growth of 11.8%

The Luxembourg Tax practice delivered a robust turnover growth of 11.8% for the year ended 30 June 2021, mainly driven by transactions, transfer pricing, (re)-structuring support, digital tax, managed services and indirect tax services.

Our team of tax advisors successfully supported clients in adapting to a constantly changing fiscal landscape and the increasing complexity of tax functions. The latest regulatory changes have been brought by profound transformations in the international tax environment under the influence of OECD’s BEPS project (e.g. minimum taxation for multinationals) and Chapter X guidance as well as new EU tax directives (CbCR, ATAD 1 & 2).

“EY Luxembourg continues to see a significant increase in the alternative investment fund industry and particularly in Private Equity, Real Estate and Credit Funds, requiring high quality tax advice. This trend, along with the profound transformations led by ESG regulations in all sectors, will be fueling growth opportunities within the Tax practice for the months and years to come. I am confident that, thanks to the cutting-edge, digitally enabled services we provide to our clients in Tax, Law and People Advisory Services, we will be on track to achieve the targets of Ambition 2026”, comments Bart van Droogenbroek, Partner, Tax Leader at EY Luxembourg.

Strategy and Transactions practice increased by 13%

The Strategy and Transaction (SaT) practice delivered another year of strong revenue growth of 13%, which follows up on a previous year 30% growth.

“Weaker M&A market conditions during the earlier part of the financial year were largely compensated for by a stronger activity level in the second half of the year, as well as sustained growth in the other core SaT activities. Valuation and business modelling services were successfully driven by the positive trends in the alternative investment fund industry, as did our restructuring services focusing on fund liquidations and insolvency projects.

Given the good prospects of our SaT practice, we integrated two additional partners and further expanded the team, to further develop our existing business and launch new advisory services such as real estate M&A and development projects”, says Christophe Vandendorpe, Partner, Strategy and Transactions Leader at EY Luxembourg.

EY Global: growth in all service lines

EY Global announced combined global revenues of 40b US dollars for the financial year ended June 2021 (FY21), an increase of 7.3% in US dollars, a solid result given the global economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past seven years, the global EY organization has recorded a strong 7.3% compound annual growth.

In FY21, all EY service lines delivered growth: Assurance grew 5.8%; Advisory 6.4%; Tax 7.2% and Strategy and Transactions 14.6%. Revenue also increased across all three EY geographic areas: the Americas 2.8%; Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) 10.2%; and Asia-Pacific 13.8%.

Overall, headcount increased by 4.4% to 312,250 people globally.

People: accelerated recruitment to support our strong growth ambition

An organization is only ever as good as the people working for it. To win the war for talent, leading businesses build an environment that values diversity and attracts and retains the right people to help grow their businesses – not just great people, but people who fit the company’s culture by sharing its purpose and vision.

Since the beginning of fiscal year 2022, EY Luxembourg onboarded a record number of 450 joiners. By the end of the fiscal year, we will have hired more than 700 new professionals.  We have never recruited so many people in the past and a recruitment of this scale sets the tone and strong grounds for this fiscal year which again sets high growth ambitions.

When we consider the way we are working, in cross border teams, servicing global clients, cultural capability is essential in providing exceptional experience for our people and our clients. Our already diverse and multi-cultural EY environment now counts 1,700 employees in total, consisting of 86 nationalities, speaking 69 languages.

“At EY, we are committed to providing an exceptional experience and value to our people, characterized by the access to unlimited opportunities: teamwork, prestigious clients in different industries, inspiring and challenging projects but also a broad range of training and upskilling possibilities”, says Isabelle Nicks, Partner, People Leader at EY Luxembourg.

“To reinforce its ambition of creating long term value for its people, EY has been one of the first companies worldwide offering free accredited MBAs from Hult Business School to its employees, irrespective of prior qualifications or location. Internationally renowned and ranked among the top 15 Business Schools worldwide by The Economist, Hult is a partner of choice in delivering top skills to our people. I believe in skills as a differentiating factor in our industry, where thinking ahead is what defines us – especially with the unpreceded disruptions that we are and will be facing”, adds Olivier Coekelbergs.

EY launches its first Sustainability report

EY’s Luxembourg’s first Sustainability Report that covers financial year 2021 has been launched on 25 November 2021, along with the financial results.

“At EY, we see our business as a catalyst to generate long-term sustainable value. Our commitment to get our people growing, to ensure the best use of technology and to innovate are at the center of our strategy. We are also eager to support our clients in making their businesses more sustainable through our ESG services, for example by defining and implementing their ESG strategies and keeping pace with the existing and upcoming ESG requirements, such as the Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), and related implications.

Our area of influence goes beyond our organization. To come back to our initiatives, we have taken several specific actions to strengthen a diverse and inclusive working environment and lower carbon emissions by aligning with EY Global environmental commitment. We are also very proud of our EY Corporate Responsibility Program, EY Ripples. Through EY Ripples, our employees can use their skills and experience to help those most in need to transform their lives” says Renaud Breyer, Partner, Sustainability Leader at EY Luxembourg.

[1] Turnover growth percentages are in line with the EY management reporting principles per service line.

[2] Total net revenues represent the consolidated net revenues of EY Luxembourg.