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Nuremberg, 11 July 2018: Above all, Rödl & Partner counts internationally active family-owned companies among its clients. With them, Rödl & Partner grows all over the world, providing interdisciplinary support in cross-border projects and business activities. At Rödl & Partner, well-rehearsed teams of attorneys, tax advisers, auditors and management and IT consultants work closely together towards this goal. With over 4,700 colleagues (previous year: 4,500), Rödl & Partner is present with 111 own offices in 51 countries.
Also in the financial year 2017, Rödl & Partner continued on its growth path: total revenue increased by 7.5 percent to reach EUR 415.0 million, with all service lines once again recording significant growth. Germany accounted for EUR 218,7 million (+ 8.32 percent), while turnover outside Germany increased to EUR 196,3 million (+6.51 percent).
The growth in the 2017 financial year was based primarily on the steadily increasing demand for complex – often transaction-related – consulting services. But also the area of financial statement audit recorded significant gains. “By focusing on Mittelstand shaped world market leaders from Germany, our very specific business model that is geared to interdisciplinary consulting thrives to the full benefit of our clients,” says Prof. Dr. Christian Rödl, Chairman of the Management Board of Rödl & Partner.
In the service line legal, the increase in turnover was mainly attributable to advising German companies in the area of cross-border company acquisitions and disposals. 2017 was the most successful year for Rödl & Partner's M&A transactions. 262 domestic and international transactions were realised worldwide, representing an increase of approx. 30 percent compared to the previous year. In nearly 75 percent of transactions, at least two service lines of Rödl & Partner were involved on an interdisciplinary basis.
In 2017, the service line tax consulting gained momentum not only due to transactions and the business areas transfer pricing and VAT services, but also by the continuing effects of the inheritance tax reform. Family businesses are still in great need of advice with regard to corporate succession. The new junior shareholders must execute wills and prepare legal precautionary packages. Corporate governance and partnership agreements need to be adjusted as well. The inheritance tax reform has also led to increased demand for solutions regarding inheritance tax-privileged CTA (Contractual Trust Arrangement) structures. In addition, succession arrangements are becoming more and more international and require an interdisciplinary approach. There was also concrete need for support on the subject of succession in the structuring of apartment rental companies, which benefit from inheritance tax breaks.
An important factor behind the continued positive development of the service line audit is also here the strategy of aligning the service portfolio with international family-owned companies as well as Mittelstand shaped capital market-oriented companies and start-ups. The classic financial statement audit, as in the previous years, is largely responsible for this success. Accounting advisory and audit-related services such as business valuation, financial due diligence and IT audit as well as strong demand for audit services also contribute to growth. Furthermore, the public sector area has grown strongly and continues to account for a significant share of Rödl & Partner's total turnover in Germany.
Rödl & Partner's BPO services are growing especially outside Germany, where it has become the outsourced finance department of numerous subsidiaries of German world market leaders. The central factors driving this development are the persistent shortage of skilled workers at company level, the need for extensive and further training and the required qualifications of employees in these countries. The challenges posed by internationalisation and digitalisation as well as increasing complexity in tax compliance matters were primarily responsible for the rapidly growing business in 2017. As part of the management and IT consulting service line, IT outsourcing saw the greatest development, with a focus on operation of ERP solutions and SAP consulting.
Digitalisation offers great opportunities for all service lines of Rödl & Partner and will significantly affect their development in the years to come. Digitalisation is not merely a vague buzzword for Rödl & Partner but an integral component of the corporate strategy that is geared to state-of-the-art consulting and audit tools.
Nevertheless, in all of Rödl & Partner's service lines it is the people with their professional qualifications, creative thinking and emphatic contact from person to person that remain the decisive factor.
The beginning of the year 2018 was positive for Rödl & Partner. Global political events such as increasing trade barriers are difficult to predict, but it is precisely for this reason that companies are all the more looking for reliability and consistency in advice and assistance. The business confidence is based not least on a current internal survey conducted by Rödl & Partner among German Mittelstand world market leaders. Over 70% of the respondents assessed the general business climate in Germany as good and very good. The same positive assessment was also given with regard to their growth prospects and international business activities, with nearly 90 percent of respondents opting for a strong and/or stable rating.
Petar Grujicic-Hauck
Head of Corporate Communications
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