This analysis was originally posted by Audit Analytics.
The audit market for companies listed on the Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) in Spain is highly concentrated; 21 accounting firms were engaged by 164 companies headquartered in Spain and listed on the Continuous Market at the end of 2020. This reflects an increase of five accounting firms and over 30 companies from 2019.
The Big Four account for 77% of engagements, which is an 8% decrease from 2019. BDO accounts for 5% of the market, a 3% increase from 2019. Meanwhile, Grant Thornton accounts for 3%, and AUREN Auditores SP SLP accounts for 2%. The remaining fourteen firms audit just one percent of the market each. Four companies were audited by more than one firm.
Among the Big Four, the market is shared relatively evenly. EY led with 39 engagements, followed by KPMG with 31, PwC with 30, and Deloitte with 27.
Audit Analytics tracks the Continuous Market, which includes the three top market cap indexes – IBEX 35, IBEX Medium Cap, and IBEX Small Cap.
The Big Four firms account for all of the IBEX 35 audits. PwC continues to lead with eleven engagements, followed by KPMG with ten, EY with eight, and Deloitte with six. The IBEX 35 includes one foreign company; ArcelorMittal SA is headquartered in Luxembourg, so they are not included in the continuous market analysis.
The Big Four also account for all of the IBEX Medium Cap clients. PwC leads the way with seven engagements, Deloitte and EY followed with five engagements each, while KPMG accounts for three engagements.
Similar to the previously mentioned indexes, the Big Four also account for all of the IBEX Small Cap companies. Deloitte and EY were the top auditors for this index, auditing ten companies each, followed by KPMG with seven and PwC with three. One company listed on this index had two auditors; Tecnicas Reunidas SA engaged both PwC and Deloitte.
Continuous Market
The Big Four hold the bulk of the market share among the remaining firms that audit the Continuous Market of the BME. This is unsurprising, as all IBEX 35, IBEX Medium Cap, and IBEX Small Cap (which account for 84 of the 160 companies in the continuous market) engaged each of the Big Four.
Similar to 2019, the top audit firm is EY, which audits 24% of the companies. Next is KPMG (19%), PwC (18%), and Deloitte (16%). PwC increased their total market share by 6% over the last year, and Deloitte doubled their total market share from the previous year, going from 8% in 2019 to 16% in 2020.
Finally, there are 17 other firms that audit listed companies in Spain. BDO (5%), Grant Thornton (3%), and AUREN Auditores (2%) together audit 10% of Spain’s total market share. Six firms audited two companies each: Baker Tilly, European Tax Law Global Audit, Luis Caruana & Asociados, Mazars, Moore Iberica, and PKF. The remaining eight firms audited one company each.
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