BrazilKPMG MESA banks record revenues; appoints Adnan Chaudhry as COO in KSA
KMPG Saudi Arabia has appointed Adnan Chaudhry as its new Chief Operating Officer to lead its infrastructure segment. Meanwhile, the firm’s MESA region has achieved 17.2 percent growth for 2018.
Following the recent appointments of Wadih AbouNasr to the head up its tax division, and Ismail Alani as Head of Public Sector, KPMG in Saudi Arabia has brought in experienced consultant Adnan Chaudhry as its new Chief Operating Officer, leading the infrastructure function. Chaudhry brings nearly two decades of cross-industry consulting and corporate experience to the role, crossing from his most recent position as CCO for Cisco’s MEAR region (Middle East, Africa & Russia/CIS) based out of Dubai.
Chaudhry has been with the US internet technology firm for close to four and a half years, previously as its Chief Finance Officer for Middle East, Turkey and Africa, before which he spent nine years with McKinsey & Company in the US (rising to Head of Finance & Accounting – Midwest) and the UAE (Director of Finance & Operations - Middle East). Earlier, Chaudhry spent four years as a Senior Financial Analyst with Accenture following a finance degree earned with Northern Illinois University in 2001.
The experienced executive will join a KPMG team in Saudi Arabia led by Chairman Abdullah Al Fozan – who further serves as the current chair of KPMG’s MESA region, which covers some 30 locations and a staff of 6,500-plus across the GCC, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen in the Middle East and North Africa along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives in South Asia. After booking growth of 12.7 percent last year, this year the firm has reported an even more impressive return, up 17.2 percent.
Growth for KMPG in the region leads the firm’s global revenue growth of 7.1 percent for its 2018 financial year to the end of September, contributing to KPMG’s record revenue take of $29 billion worldwide. Globally, the firm’s Advisory line was the stand-out performer, achieving near double-digit growth, while the firm’s overall headcount crossed the 200,000 mark with 55,000 new hires for the year. In response, the firm has announced a significant reinvestment across its territories in the coming years.
“KPMG is continuing with a multi-year global investment programme, investing more than US$4 billion in innovative new services, technology, and acquisitions over the next four years,” said KPMG International Chairman Bill Thomas, who was recently in attendance for the KPMG MESA partners conference held in Bahrain. “This investment programme is focused on transformative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and intelligent automation, cyber security, and our intelligent audit and tax platforms.”
KPMG Lower Gulf Chairman Vijay Malhotra, who recently handed over the CEO role to former Management Consulting head Nader Haffar, added as to this year’s financial results; “In the Lower Gulf, we are extremely fortunate to have a positive economic outlook with strong growth indicators as a result of a number of economic stimuli announced by the Government… Furthermore, the region has embarked on a digital transformation drive to support its economic agenda, and this very much aligns with KPMG’s vision to further invest in growing its business in the region.”
Non-fiscal highlights for KPMG in the region in 2018 include; the Bahrain branch’s 50th anniversary and its long-time managing partner Jamal Fakhro receiving a prestigious ICAEW award for his contribution to the practice of accountancy in the Middle East; a deal signed by KPMG Saudi Arabia with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to establish a data analytics and artificial intelligence insights centre in the Kingdom; and KPMG in Qatar supporting the 2022 FIFA World Cup with legacy planning.
