BDO U.K. partner pay fell 14% in its latest set of results after a slowdown in its deals practice.
The U.K. arm of the accountancy firm said average profit per equity partner for the year to July 4 slipped to £589,000 ($780,000), from £681,000 in the previous year, the firm said in a statement.
Revenue was broadly flat at £1 billion, while operating profit fell 7.5% to £210 million as the firm navigated an uncertain economic backdrop in the U.K.
The firm, which now has more than 500 partners, said its deals practice shrank 4% and its audit unit was down 3.7%, while its tax business grew 3.4% and its consulting, risk and outsourcing arm grew 5.4%.
“The well-documented economic headwinds across the U.K. have resulted in a challenging year for the profession as a whole,” managing partner Mark Shaw said in the statement. “Growth rates have slowed and profitability has come under pressure.”
Shaw said in an interview Tuesday that he was open to mergers to grow the business.
“We have a completely open mind,” he said. “The idea of convergence in accountancy networks is a common theme we are seeing in the market and we are a player in the market. That is something we are open to.”
BDO U.K. and BDO Ireland said in November that they are in merger talks. The planned tie-up is part of a wider push among accountancy firms to bulk up the units that make up their networks.
Deloitte is planning to create a new Europe, Middle East and Africa group, Bloomberg has reported, while Grant Thornton’s network has consolidated rapidly over the last year driven by investment from private equity firms New Mountain Capital and Cinven.
However, Shaw said the firm has no plans to take private equity investment to fund its growth.
“We are not attracted to simply securitizing our income,” he said. “We are a partnership, we are committed to that partnership model and we have no plans to change that.”
BDO’s global leadership in October advised its member firms not to take private equity money. Its U.S. arm borrowed $1.3 billion from Apollo Global Management Inc. to fund an employee ownership plan in a 2023 deal.
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