Deloitte grows Belgian revenues by 4% to €819 million

The Belgian arm of Deloitte has seen its revenue grow by 4% in its latest financial year, despite a challenging economic climate. Not advisory, but audit and accounting was this year’s top performer.

In its 2024 financial year, Deloitte lifted its revenues by 4.4% to €819 million. “Thanks to our balanced client portfolio, with operations across diverse sectors and different client segments, we were able to present great results even in these circumstances. At the same time, we managed to remain close to our clients,” said Rolf Driesen, the CEO of Deloitte in Belgium.

In an environment which is seeing clients take a more cautious approach to discretionary spending, Deloitte’s advisory activities (Consulting, Financial Advisory and Risk Advisory) grew notably slower than the other parts of the business, which tend to be more stable as they support regulated activities (Audit & Assurance, Accountancy and Tax & Legal).

Consulting recorded slight growth of 1.9% to €276 million. This was mainly driven by demand for major digital transformation work, sustainability, and ERP implementations. Risk Advisory also noted modest growth, at 1.2% to €105 million. The arm supports clients with mitigating cyber, financial or operational risks, as well as fraud and financial crime.

The Financial Advisory division saw its revenue (€28 million) remain stable. Its M&A work was characterised by fewer and relatively smaller transactions, which was the result of higher interest rates among other things. However, the division saw more demand for its services in the area of financial distress, such as turnaround and restructuring.

Audit & Assurance was the strongest riser with 9% growth to €77 million, driven by the win of several large mandates. Accountancy meanwhile grew by 5.5% to €130 million, while Tax & Legal enjoyed growth of 8% to €204 million.

The firm’s headcount remained relatively stable at 5,470 employees. The diversity of the team however improved slightly in the past financial year.

Cautious optimism

Looking ahead, Driesen, stated: “I am currently looking to the future with cautious optimism. We see growth poles such as sustainability, artificial intelligence and data.”

“But providing a future perspective for our manufacturing industry remains a point of attention. Several sectors are currently going through severe weather, and this is largely due to high energy and material costs, inflationary pressures, but also the lack of a consistent and predictable licensing policy. This causes great concern for many entrepreneurs and investors.”

“To our policymakers, I would like to ask them to work out a stable, long-term vision for industry that we can realise together. Belgium deserves this. The time is now.”

In Belgium, Deloitte is the largest of the Big Four firms, a position it also holds in neighbouring the Netherlands and worldwide.