KPMG South Africa is winning back customers and no longer bleeding staff as the auditing firm rebuilds an image tarnished by a series of scandals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe market is beginning to acknowledge and accept the changes that we have made,\u201d Chief Executive Officer Ignatius Sehoole said in an interview at KPMG\u2019s Johannesburg office.<\/p>\n
More companies no longer fear they are \u201ctaking a risky bet by doing business with us. Everyone is also concerned about their own reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The firm has secured a number of new mandates in industries such as telecommunications, mining and information technology, he said.<\/p>\n
KPMG has spent the past\u00a0two years\u00a0increasing the independence of its board, adding layers of security to its auditing processes and reviewing the risk profiles of clients, the CEO said.<\/p>\n
A third of KPMG South Africa\u2019s R3 billion ($204 million) in revenue has evaporated since late 2017, when the company came under increasing fire\u00a0for work done for a politically connected family accused of plundering the South African government\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n
The company also audited a bank that collapsed due to alleged fraud and published a misleading report on the nation\u2019s revenue service.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s workforce has dropped by about 1,000 over the past two years to roughly 2,000 people after clients including Absa Group Ltd., the country\u2019s third-largest bank, South Africa\u2019s Auditor-General and clothing retailer The Foschini Group Ltd. terminated KPMG as their auditors.<\/p>\n
The firm\u2019s push to reform has seen it part ways with even more clients, while also turning down some new assignments that fall outside its revised risk assessment criteria, Sehoole said.<\/p>\n
“In that process, we are probably seen to be quite schizophrenic,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We lost quite a number of clients so we are in a space where it is expected that we are looking for more. We are heartened by the fact that our remedial actions are starting to be recognized in the important quarters, by old and new clients, industry bodies, government and by civil society.”<\/p>\n