Deloitte reports record $74.5bn revenue as tech consulting slows

In short: Deloitte’s revenue rose to a record $74.5bn, but overall growth slowed as its technology consulting business grew more slowly than last year.

What's going on

Deloitte said its global revenue reached $74.5bn in the year ending May 31. That was a 3.8% increase when measured in “constant currency,” which means the company adjusts the numbers to remove the ups and downs of exchange rates. In plain terms, it is a way to compare this year and last year without currency noise.

The company’s growth rate was lower than the year before. Deloitte reported 3.8% constant-currency growth, down from 4.8% in the previous 12 months.

The slowdown was tied to its consulting businesses, especially the part focused on technology and business change. Deloitte said consulting on “technology and transformation” grew 2.5%, down from 4.7% the prior year. Its advisory work on strategy, risk, and transactions grew 4.4%, down from 5.5%.

This comes as firms like Deloitte face questions about how artificial intelligence will affect consulting. Many consultants expect more work helping clients use AI, but investors have been less confident about the near-term payoff. Deloitte’s publicly listed rivals, such as Accenture, have seen their shares fall over the past two years, according to the report.

Deloitte said its audit and tax businesses grew faster than its consulting arm, although it does not publish exact revenue totals for each business line. The firm also said its workforce rose to almost 500,000 people globally, up from about 470,000 a year earlier.

What to watch

Deloitte said it will keep investing in AI-related work, including $3bn by the end of 2030 to modernise its own business and build tools for clients. The key question is whether companies will spend quickly on AI projects, or whether AI ends up lowering the price of some consulting work, like a calculator reducing the need for manual math.

Source: Financial Times