Ernst & Young Malta’s revenue in 2011 increased substantially to €9,768,000, according to the firm’s 2011 Transparency Report, although the company points out that this is a preliminary figure “and may be subject to change”. The firm’s revenue in 2010 amounted to €6,209,000.
The revenue for 2011 was broken down as follows: Statutory audit, €4,868,000 (50 per cent); Other assurance, €725,000 (seven per cent); Tax advisory, €1,718,000 (18 per cent); Other non-audit, €2,457,000 (25 per cent)
A sharp increase in statutory audit revenue from €2,073,000 in 2010 to €4,868,000 in 2011 was laregely responsible for the overall growth in revenue for Ernst & Young Malta this year. Other assurance services revenue includes accounting and financial services, risk related services including internal controls, internal audits, technology and security, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance, actuarial, fraud and forensics, and other attestation services.
Other non-audit services includes transaction, valuation, performance improvement, restructuring and other advisory related services.
The European Union’s 8th Company Law Directive and the Accountancy Profession Regulations 2009 require Malta statutory auditors of Public Interest Entities to publish annual transparency reports disclosing certain information.
During 2011 Ernst & Young Malta performed statutory audits of the following public interest entities: Akbank TAS (Malta Branch), APS Bank Ltd., APS Fund Sicav plc, Banif Bank (Malta) plc, Erste Bank Malta Ltd., Gap Developments plc, Loqus Holdings plc, Nissan International Insurance Ltd., Palatina Insurance Ltd., Pembroke International Insurance Company Ltd., PSA Insurance Ltd., PSA Life Insurance Ltd., RCI Insurance Ltd., RCI Life Ltd., Santrumas Shareholding plc, Voice Cash Bank Ltd., and White Rock Insurance (Europe) PCC Ltd.
The transparency report says that mandatory audit partner rotation is one of the measures that Ernst & Young supports to help strengthen auditor independence.
“We comply with the audit partner rotation requirements of the code of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and the Accountancy Board. Ernst & Young supports audit partner rotation because it provides a fresh perspective and promotes independence from company management while retaining expertise and knowledge of the business.
“Audit partner rotation, combined with independence requirements, enhanced systems of internal quality controls and independent audit oversight help strengthen independence and objectivity and are important safeguards of audit quality,” the report says.
Ronald Attard, Ernst & Young Malta managing partner said in his introduction to the report: “At Ernst & Young, we firmly believe the audit profession plays a vital role in promoting the transparency that underpins confidence in the world’s capital markets and drives economic growth. We have welcomed the independent oversight that auditors have faced globally over the past decade, because we believe it has helped to further the quality of our work, and auditors have become more transparent to all of our stakeholders.”
The report says that a strategic objective of the firm is to attract and build life-long relationships with talented audit professionals. It says that the recruiting for the assurance practice is performed primarily on university campuses and supplemented, when necessary, by hiring people with prior work experience.