Return to profit in 2016: BCG

The firm expects to grow revenue by at least 10 per cent and return to profit in calendar 2016, said Andrew Clark, BCG's Australia and New Zealand managing partner.

"So 2013 was a horrible year," Mr Clark, who took over as managing partner in mid-2014, said

"We didn't stop recruiting and we didn't let people go, but we did suck up a big loss.

"That's led to losses for the last couple of years.

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"This year we expect to record a profit again."

Reluctance to cut staff


He said that the firm, which has 30 partners and about 400 staff, had opted to trade out of the loss as there was reluctance to cut staff numbers.

"Over a couple of years we had tax losses as we didn't want to cut the cost base, basically," he said.

"We've invested years in training these people.

Financial results of Bain, BCG and McKinsey. Les Hewitt

"If you're knee-jerk on recruiting or you let people go, it really bites you.

"So, we try to make sure we don't act too aggressively one way or the other."

Difficult to compare

The filings of all three firms, which are private companies with global operations, use a mix of accounting measures that are not directly comparable and refer to different offices.


In addition, the documents of McKinsey and Bain reveal far fewer financial details with neither having filed their 2015 results.

Staff numbers of Bain, BCG and McKinsey. Les Hewitt

The financial documents show McKinsey grew Australia and New Zealand revenue by 28 per cent to $205.1 million in 2014 and profit by 50 per cent to $22.5 million.

McKinsey Australia managing partner John Lydon did not comment directly about the firm's financial results.

Limited financial detail

Detail around Bain's financial filings was even more difficult to ascertain.

In a "consolidating income statement", Bain reported a 4 per cent increase in client fees to $US113.2 million ($149.1 million) in 2014, while net income fell by 55 per cent to $US3.2 million.

The 2013 filing refers to Bain's Australia and Hong Kong companies, while the 2014 document refers to the firm's Hong Kong, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington companies.

The Australia and New Zealand managing partner for Bain, David Zehner, said he could not comment on any specifics around the firm's operations.

Globally, the three firms are private companies that do not break out profit, with BCG reporting 2015 income of $US5 billion, while Forbes estimates McKinsey made $US8.4 billion and Bain made $US2.3 billion last year.

edmundtadros@afr.com.au