• After two scandals this year, PwC’s business in the Asia-Pacific region has plummeted.
• The company’s operating license in China was suspended for six months due to its involvement in a fraud case.
• As PwC faced these regional setbacks, the firm achieved record revenue and hired 10,000 new employees.

After scandals in Australia and China this year, PwC has lost business in the Asia-Pacific region.

Monday, the Big four The consultancy reported a 12.7% drop in net profit in the region for the year ended June. PwC said demand has been particularly slow in China, where incomes have fallen.

In September, it was found that the company had helped cover up fraud at Chinese real estate developer Evergrande, now bankrupt.

The Chinese government fined PwC $62 million and revoked its operating license in the country for six months. 11 employees were fired or left the company, and the public companies have since abandoned the PwC auditor position.

Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC, said Evergrande’s audit findings stood in stark contrast to the high-quality work produced by PwC and were not representative of what the company stands for.

The firm’s second regional scandal erupted in Australia after it was discovered that a senior partner in its tax division had passed confidential information related to his work with the government to colleagues to help them win new business. contracts with multinational technology companies like Uber and Google. the australian financial review reported for the first time.

PwC sold its government consultancy business in Australia following the revelations.

Overall revenue in Asia Pacific, which is the smallest of the company’s regions, declined 5.6% in local currencies. PwC highlighted that the business had performed well in India, where revenues had increased.

Despite the regional impact on the business, PwC recorded overall growth of 3.7% to reach record gross revenues of $55.4 billion.

Like other leading consultancies, PwC has been hit by falling demand for consultancy services and its growth rate has slowed. In fiscal year 2023, revenue increased by 9.9%.

Following the rush to consultancy services during the pandemic, demand for professional services has slowed, leaving companies overstaffed relative to the level of work. While EY and Deloitte have been downsize Over the past year, PwC expanded its headcount by 10,000 people in fiscal 2024 to reach 370,000 employees worldwide.

“Despite a challenging economic environment, we saw revenue growth across all our business segments, deepened our strategic alliances and invested $1.5 billion to expand and evolve our AI capabilities,” said Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC.