PwC's pitch for Billiton audit fails

ACCOUNTANCY firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has failed in its bid to be sole auditor to BHP Billiton, from which it received fees of more than £7.1m last year.

KPMG has won the entire business after an audit review by the company. The move completes a process begun when the mining group was formed through a huge merger in 2001 that left it with three auditors.

PwC ceases to be an auditor immediately and is unlikely to have been paid a break fee.

BHP paid PwC £4.1m in audit fees, £1.6m for audit-related services, £1.3m for tax advice and £100,000 for other services in the last financial year. That was a total of £7.1m compared with the £7.3m paid to KPMG.