2020/21 best business year since foundation

Press Release

2020/21 best business year since foundation

09 Feb 2022

Düsseldorf, 9 February 2022

• Warth & Klein Grant Thornton Group records a 15.4% increase in turnover
• All business divisions have grown
• Further expansion of the digital portfolio
  

As of 30 September 2021, the Warth & Klein Grant Thornton Group ended the 2020/21 financial year with a 15.4% increase in revenue, making a total of €169.3 million. This is the highest turnover in the company's history so far.

Despite the difficult, pandemic-related conditions for the internationally orientated German mid-size enterprise sector – Warth & Klein Grant Thornton's main clients – all business divisions have developed and grown very well. Besides organic growth, the company also acquired additional partners and teams from competitors and were bolstered by new teams in Hamburg and Rostock; this all contributed significantly to the successful business year. In addition to further expertise, the merger has also encouraged additional growth stimuli.

"We continued to brave the crisis brought about by the pandemic and are pleased to report strong growth, also in comparision to the industry. We are also pleased to report that our core business has continued to grow and that our audit and advisory services are in high demand," says Michael Häger, CEO of Warth & Klein Grant Thornton.

Advisory division shows strongest growth

The largest business division, Audit & Assurance, grew by 17.5% year-on-year to €55.4 million in revenue – the highest for the division since it began. In addition to winning new clients in the core market, this was also due to further expansion of the Financial Services division.

The Tax division also continued its positive trend of previous years and achieved an increase of 14.7% to reach €47.7 million. This was due to successfully strengthening relationships with existing clients, acquiring new business in all market segments as well as the very positive development relating to recent partner acquisitions. The Advisory division saw the strongest growth. Compared to the previous year, it increased by 19.3% to make €29.4 million in revenue. This was mainly driven by the dynamic development of the transaction business. 

The Business Process Solutions division closed the 2020/21 year very successfully with an increase of 11.9% to achieve €25.1 million in revenue. Here, too, growth was strongly transaction-driven with a focus on the real estate sector.

The Legal division also benefited from strong advisory business in transaction projects (+7.7% to €6.6 million). Private Finance achieved turnover of more than €5 million for the first time with an increase of 14.2%, taking the division to €5.1 million.

With a very successful financial year, Warth & Klein Grant Thornton confirms the growth trend of the Grant Thornton International network, which reports a global turnover record of 14.3%, making 6.6 billion USD in the financial year 2020/21. Behind the successful business development are around 1,500 employees in Germany (as of 30 September 2021).

Increased market presence due to important client wins

Warth & Klein Grant Thornton was able to further expand its own presence in the market in the 2020/21 financial year by winning notable clients in all business divisions. This includes, for example, the supermarket chain Real, which expanded its mandate from tax consultancy to auditing. The DLE Group AG, an asset management platform that focuses on real estate, was also won as an auditing client, as was the payment service provider Payone GmbH in the Financial Services division.

Warth & Klein Grant Thornton advised the Swedish real estate company Heimstaden on both finances and tax due diligence as well as the tax structuring of several large transactions.

Warth & Klein Grant Thornton is known in the market as an effective advisor and an expert in complex business management issues. In the past financial year, for example, we acted as a neutral expert for Grenke AG and for the insolvency administrator of Wirecard. We also consulted NRW.BANK on the sale of the Westspiel Group.

Further expansion of the digital portfolio

The current pandemic situation illustrates once again how important the topics of IT and digitalisation are for companies. In the financial year that just ended, Warth & Klein Grant Thornton continued to systematically drive forward its digitisation strategy.

By establishing the new Tax Technology service line, the company is helping to shape the still comparatively small market for digitalisation in tax consultancy in Germany. Consultancy requirements with regard to digital processes in the area of taxes are already in high demand in German mid-size and large companies and this trend will continue to grow.

Audit & Assurance saw unabated demand for IT assurance services, particularly in assisting clients with the implementation of new ERP systems. The digitalisation strategy has been consistently implemented in this division, for example with the continuous development of data analytics tools.

In the future, Warth & Klein Grant Thornton aims to support clients with a fully comprehensive portfolio focusing on IT and digitalisation. With a recently acquired team of skilled experts, development of the IT consulting division is currently on the business agenda.

"We make our clients fit for the digitalised future. Therefore, we are continuously expanding our expertise as part of our digitalisation strategy. We want to continue to offer our clients progressive and innovative solutions. We aim to accompany them intensively in this process, as we believe that great strides are best taken as part of an interdisciplinary team," says Häger.

Ambitious growth agenda for 2021/22

In the new financial year, which has already got off to a promising start, Warth & Klein Grant Thornton is primarily aiming for organic growth, but is also open to targeted intake of new teams. The focus is on the German economic centres as well as the expansion of existing locations in order to be able to advise clients as comprehensively as possible in all disciplines on site.

In these first few months, the company has already been able to record further exciting new additions to its client base, both in its target segment of mid-sized enterprises and in the area of listed companies. In the Auditing division, these include the biofuel producer Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG, listed on the S-Dax, and the electronics solutions provider Katek SE, listed on the Prime Standard.

CEO Häger is positive about the current business year: "We have had an excellent year, and the first months of the new financial year make me optimistic that we will also be able to achieve the ambitious goals we have set ourselves for this year. Above all, many thanks to all the employees who, with their passion and commitment, play a very significant role in shaping the success of the company."

One of the next consistent steps on the growth agenda is the renaming of the company to Grant Thornton AG on 1 March 2022. The new name emphasises the affiliation with the Grant Thornton network, the number 6 global audit and advisory network, and the focus on internationally operative mid-size enterprises.

About Warth & Klein Grant Thornton

Warth & Klein Grant Thornton is one of the ten largest auditing companies in Germany. The company is the German member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd. The Grant Thornton network has over 62,000 employees in more than 130 countries who provide consulting services to companies all over the world.

In Germany, around 1,500 employees at eleven offices are in charge of the mid-size enterprise sector as well as publicly listed companies. Warth & Klein Grant Thornton focusses on Audit & Assurance, Tax, Advisory, Business Process Solutions, Legal, and Private Finance.

Contact

Susanne Gehrling
Head of Corporate Communications
+49 69 905598 617
susanne.gehrling@de.gt.com