Business Day (Nigeria)

Mazars posts impressive 2019/2020 result, reaffirms commitment to shaping healthier audit industry

- MICHAEL ANI

Mazars, an internatio­nal audit, tax and advisory firm, has released a financial statement for the 2019/2020 financial year (1 September 2019 – 31 August 2020), with revenue increasing by 7.8 percent to €1.9 billion, compared to the previous financial year.

The increase in fee income comprises strong organic growth percent, complement­ed by positive external growth of 1.80 percent.

Commenting on the firm’s financial performanc­e, Hervé Hélias, CEO and Chairman of Mazars Group said with the firm’s focus on keeping people safe and delivering top quality services to clients, Mazars has shown remarkable resilience in achieving 7.8% growth, most of it organic. Our people’s remarkable efforts to continue serving our clients and carry out their assignment­s enabled us to do more than just weather the storm in 2020.” he said

Keeping a long-term perspectiv­e: strategic plan for the next four-years.

Despite the crisis, Mazars continued to invest and plan for its future. Over 1,100 partners recently voted to approve the new strategic plan, ‘One24’, a title recognisin­g the uniqueness of Mazars’ united partnershi­p model.

The plan articulate­s the group’s roadmap for the next four years, capitalisi­ng on Mazars’ strengths and distinctiv­e attributes: quality services, cross-border operationa­l integratio­n, internatio­nal consistenc­y, dedication and care for clients and teams.

The new plan seeks to continue the group’s transforma­tion and to secure Mazars’ position as an internatio­nal audit, tax and advisory leader, by continuous­ly improving talent and client experience and innovating services and ways to work.

Over the coming four-year period the firm will continue to focus on its priorities: client-centricity, quality and risk management, internatio­nal growth, operationa­l integratio­n, talent developmen­t, and contributi­ng to building a fair and prosperous world.

Looking ahead Hélias says: “The pandemic and related economic crisis certainly bring a challengin­g period, but the firm is looking beyond that, investing in its business and people to deliver clients’ needs and what they expect. We have set a strategy that both secures our place in the market and continues to create the firm of the future, ensuring we attract and grow outstandin­g talent, deliver high-quality experience­s to our clients of all types, and above all, build confidence and trust by acting responsibl­y.”

A renewed, diverse leadership team to implement a strategic plan.

To support the One24 programme, Mazars has reviewed and reinforced its governance structure, which comprises the Group Executive Board (GEB)1 and Group Governance Council (GGC)2.

The new governance team was elected during the firm’s virtual partner conference in December 2020.

Of the 23 elected members in the GEB and GGC, 10 are female: this means 44 percent of Mazars’ governance positions are held by women, representi­ng strong gender diversity in the firm’s leadership.

Hervé Hélias was re-elected as chairman of the GEB and two new members were elected: Mark Kennedy, managing partner in Ireland since 2016 and Julie Laulusa, comanaging partner in China since 2010.

Laulusa and Kennedy join nine other re-elected GEB members: Hervé Hélias, Pascal Jauffret, Rudi Lang, Taibou Mbaye, Christoph Regierer, Veronique Ryckaert, Ton Tuinier, Phil Verity and Victor Wahba. Antonio Bover steps down after three terms (12 years) and Wenxian Shi transition­s from member to a permanent invitee.

The GGC now comprises Asa Andersson Eneberg, Gertrud Bergmann, Maria Cabodevill­a, Frank

Bournois, Kathryn Byrne, Juliette Decoux, Fabrice Demarigny, Denise Fletcher, Chris Fuggle, Tim Hudson (Chair), Michelle Olckers and Liwen Zhang.

“Having a long-term perspectiv­e is critical, as is having the right team to execute our strategy. As we look to implement our four-year plan, we have evolved our governance team to ensure it has the right leaders with a diversity of background­s and styles, to make our strategy happen” says Hélias.

 ??  ?? Isa Ali Ibrahim, minister of communicat­ions and digital economy, visit to Airtel Showroom On-the-spot assessment NIN-SIM Linkage exercise in Abuja.
Isa Ali Ibrahim, minister of communicat­ions and digital economy, visit to Airtel Showroom On-the-spot assessment NIN-SIM Linkage exercise in Abuja.

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