Page 139 – Legal Business

4 August 2020

‘A fair bit of progress’ – Brodies withstands year-end turbulence to increase revenue and operating profit

Scottish leader Brodies is the latest firm in the LB100 to display its fiscal resilience, growing revenue and operating profit despite a significant Covid-19-induced slowdown during the closing months of 2019/20.

Revenue at the Scottish independent was up 7% to £82m from £76.9m last year, making it 10 years of consecutive growth at Brodies and a 20% increase over the last two years. Operating profits, meanwhile, underwent a more muted 3% rise to £38.5m while profit per equity partner (PEP) suffered a 4% drop to £680,000 amid headcount increases. Continue reading “‘A fair bit of progress’ – Brodies withstands year-end turbulence to increase revenue and operating profit”

3 August 2020

Revolving Doors: DWF appoints senior hand in critical management refresh as experienced players move to and from G100 firms

The past week has seen some senior hands move to and from large international law firms, not least DWF Group refreshing its c-suite with experience to help CEO Sir Nigel Knowles at a critical time for the business.

DWF has, following a ‘recruitment process’, appointed the current chair of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, as its new chairman with effect from 1 August. Meanwhile, Chris Sullivan, who stepped up to become interim chairman, when former chairman Knowles took over from outgoing CEO Andrew Leaitherland in May, will now become deputy chairman. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: DWF appoints senior hand in critical management refresh as experienced players move to and from G100 firms”

3 August 2020

‘Complacency not an option’ at Penningtons as revenues and profits hike following 2019 merger

Penningtons Manches Cooper produced a strong showing in 2019/20, the firm’s latest financial results show, with revenue and profits both enjoying an uptick following last summer’s tie up between legacy firms Penningtons Manches and Thomas Cooper.

Revenues rose 17% to £93m over the last financial year, up from £79.5m last year, while overall profits soared to £28m after a disappointing 15% drop last year to £14.5m. Disputes has become the main engine room at the firm, producing more than 50% of Penningtons’ material output following a focus on growing its contentious practices. Continue reading “‘Complacency not an option’ at Penningtons as revenues and profits hike following 2019 merger”

3 August 2020

Revenues soar at Ince but stop just shy of £100m target after tumultuous year

Listed law firm Ince Group, which previously operated as Gordon Dadds, has produced impressive double-digit revenue growth in its first full financial year since the acquisition of shipping specialist Ince & Co.

Revenues soared an impressive 87% to £98.5m, narrowly missing the £100m target set by Ince Group CEO Adrian Biles last November, while operating profit rose a hefty 72% to £26.2m from £15.2m last year. However, Ince’s organic growth produced a more muted 5% growth, according to the firm’s announcement on the London Stock Exchange. Continue reading “Revenues soar at Ince but stop just shy of £100m target after tumultuous year”

3 August 2020

Defying gravity – double-digit boost marks a decade of revenue growth for Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes has reported robust financial results for 2019/20 – its tenth consecutive year of revenue growth – with virtually double-digit increases in turnover and profit per equity partner (PEP).

Added to this, the firm has also announced an 88% retention rate of trainees qualifying next month, as well as the lateral hire of well-regarded finance partner Malcolm Hitching. Continue reading “Defying gravity – double-digit boost marks a decade of revenue growth for Macfarlanes”

31 July 2020

‘Not out of the woods yet’: Coronavirus puts the kibosh on Travers’ decade of revenue growth amid profit dive

Travers Smith has suffered one of its biggest financial setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic, recording an 11% slump in net profit and a 20% fall in profit per equity partner (PEP), its provisional results revealed.

The provisional figures, announced on Thursday (30 July) show a 1% revenue drop to £160.9m from £162.5m last year, stymying a decade-long run of uninterrupted turnover growth. PEP fell to £1m, with the results being adversely affected by a reporting period that ran to the end of June, rather than April, giving the firm greater exposure to the pandemic downturn. Continue reading “‘Not out of the woods yet’: Coronavirus puts the kibosh on Travers’ decade of revenue growth amid profit dive”

31 July 2020

Investments pay off at Withers as PEP surges while turnover breaks £200m

Withers saw profit per equity partner (PEP) enjoy a hefty rise over 2019/20, with a period of international expansion beginning to bear fruit at the top-30 LB100 firm. Revenue, meanwhile, enjoyed a double-digit rise as the firm steels itself for a ‘volatile’ year ahead.

PEP enjoyed a striking 41% hike to £501,000, up from £354,000 last year when partner profits endured a 12% drop, although the firm’s equity ranks did shrink by five partners across 2019/20. Overall profit now stands at £42.1m, a 34% increase, while revenues enjoyed a 14% rise to £219m, up from £193.2m. Continue reading “Investments pay off at Withers as PEP surges while turnover breaks £200m”

30 July 2020

Guest comment: Corporate values mean nothing without cost – City law’s moment has come to champion diversity

An institution’s values and commitment to inclusion are only real when tested. It is in challenging times that we decide whether we embrace those values and these are the defining moments that ultimately prove their worth. Amid a global pandemic, political upheavals, the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent movement that has flowed from his death, the profession’s actions will show if our values are either luxury items to be paraded when convenient or the rock on which we build our business.

It is precisely now beset by challenges that we need to put inclusion at the heart of our decisions. Leading law firms have often waxed lyrical about commitments to diversity; now is the moment to step up if we truly believe inclusion is a core value and an economic imperative. Continue reading “Guest comment: Corporate values mean nothing without cost – City law’s moment has come to champion diversity”

30 July 2020

Stewarts steels itself for the hit as it reports solid financials for 2019/20

Disputes specialist Stewarts has seen double-digit revenue growth for two years on the spin, posting an 11% increase in turnover to £77m for 2019/20, up from £69m from the previous financial year when it increased just shy of 11%. Profit per equity partner, meanwhile, saw a modest 3% increase to £1.25m; a needed rebound after the figure plummeted 16% in 2018/19.

The latest results show Stewarts’ continued recovery after its 2017/18 setback , where ‘non-linear’ income patterns from contingency work accounted for revenue falling by a fifth. The broader picture is that revenues over a five-year period have enjoyed a healthy uptick – rising almost 46%. Continue reading “Stewarts steels itself for the hit as it reports solid financials for 2019/20”

30 July 2020

WFW not ‘singing from the rooftops’ as it defies pandemic blues to post revenue and profit uptick

Watson Farley & Williams is the latest City firm to post robust revenue and profit figures in the face of adversity in the 2019/20 financial year.

The firm said yesterday (29 July) that fee income was up 4% to £179.6m from last year’s £172.3m as profit per equity partner (PEP) saw a 3% uplift to £577,000 from £562,000. Profit was up a respectable 13% on last year to £53.7m from £47.5m, capping off a bullish set of results. Continue reading “WFW not ‘singing from the rooftops’ as it defies pandemic blues to post revenue and profit uptick”

30 July 2020

‘High levels of uncertainty’: Eversheds braces for testing times amid robust revenue and profit lift

While few global firms expect to emerge unscathed from the Covid-19 crisis, Eversheds Sutherland (International) has nevertheless followed many peers in reporting robust revenue and profit increases in the 2019/20 financial year.

The figures released on Thursday (30 July) for the non-US parts of the business struck a bullish tone, with revenue up a solid 8% to £592m from £548.8m last year and a net profit increase of 5% to £108.8m

Profit per equity partner (PEP) also saw a slight 2% uptick to £902,000 on the back of last year’s 9% uptick to £886,000.

Whereas chief executive Lee Ranson (pictured) was last year nervous of a market slowdown as a result of Brexit, what he called ‘the uncertainty barometer’ has now shifted towards gloomy thoughts of a pandemic fallout.

‘These are a good set of results which were delivered against a challenging global economic and geopolitical landscape, compounded in the last two months of the financial year by Covid-19,’ said Ranson in a statement.

‘Our strategy has continued to drive strong growth while allowing us to make a number of significant investments across the year, specifically in people, property and our core and client-facing IT offerings. 

‘While the business has responded well to the challenges and uncertainty created by the pandemic, and adapted quickly to the changing priorities and needs of our clients, there is no doubt that the year ahead will be testing for us all given the high levels of uncertainty across the world,’ Ranson concluded.

The sentiment is one that would be circulating around the Square Mile if law firm leaders were not all stuck at home. With the pandemic appearing only on the tail end of the 2019/20 reporting period, it is anyone’s guess as to how it will pan out in the financials for the current year.

[email protected]

29 July 2020

Resilient HSF closes in on £1bn revenue but profits fall with increased operating costs

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has become the latest international firm to post resilient turnover growth in the face of the Covid-19 crisis but increased operating costs and a drop in productivity saw profits tumble in 2019/20.

Revenues at the Anglo-Australian giant increased 2.5% to £989.9m, up from £966m last year when revenues grew 4%. However, profits saw a significant decline, falling almost 8% to £283.2m while profit per equity partner dropped almost 10% to £857,000 from £949,000 last year. Continue reading “Resilient HSF closes in on £1bn revenue but profits fall with increased operating costs”

29 July 202010 February 2025

Comment: Apocalypse never – City leaders’ 2020 results show resilience to test the most confirmed Cassandra

Given the savaging that Covid-19 has done to our collective sense of time, forgive a quick history lesson on the halcyon days of 2019. Pulling together the LB100 report for the 2018/19 period, Legal Business reflected: ‘After a credible performance, the profession now faces a slowing economy at home and abroad amid mounting unease generated by a government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson hitting an increasingly Trumpian tone on forcing the UK out of the EU.’

Even the most casual reader of that year’s LB100 report would have noted the ominous imagery drawing on Conrad, Coppola and Castro as British institutions that summer buckled under the weight of entrenched discord. The message was clear, leading law firms, which increased revenues by 9% across the LB100 to hit £26.35bn, had performed well but an outlook clouded by a slowing economy, Brexit uncertainty and political instability meant harder times were coming. Continue reading “Comment: Apocalypse never – City leaders’ 2020 results show resilience to test the most confirmed Cassandra”

29 July 2020

A&O aims to tackle ‘uncomfortable truth’ with 2025 ethnic diversity targets

Allen & Overy is confronting the must-solve issue of achieving ethnic diversity in City law with a raft of new targets aimed at levelling the playing field by 2025.

The set of targets includes having 15% of partners and 25% of lawyers and support staff identifying as ethnic minority in the next five years. Continue reading “A&O aims to tackle ‘uncomfortable truth’ with 2025 ethnic diversity targets”

28 July 2020

‘Stable and consolidated’: Clydes posts steady revenue growth but profit hit after year of investment

Clyde & Co has notched up its 22nd consecutive year of revenue growth, the firm’s latest financial results show, albeit with a slower turnover increase than the previous financial year and a modest dip in profit following internal investments.

Firmwide revenues were up 3% from £611m to £627m in 2019/20, a decrease on last year’s pacier 11% growth rate. Despite the reliable revenue growth, profit at the firm fell 5% to £143m ‘due to increased investment,’ while profit per equity partner (PEP) likewise dipped 4% to £665,000. Continue reading “‘Stable and consolidated’: Clydes posts steady revenue growth but profit hit after year of investment”

27 July 2020

Revolving Doors: US firms take lead as lateral hire market emerges from hibernation

As the lateral recruitment market in the UK and Europe begins to reawaken, it is clear US firms have picked up where they left off, going in hard with key hires from Global 100 rivals.

New York banking heavyweight Cahill Gordon & Reindel has made the standout move of late, strengthening its nascent London finance practice with the hires of Jonathan Brownson and Jake Keaveny from Allen & Overy, who will be joining in September. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: US firms take lead as lateral hire market emerges from hibernation”

27 July 2020

‘On the front foot’ – RPC upbeat after holding steady amid year of change

RPC posted muted revenue growth for 2019/20 following changes to the firm’s practice lines, its latest financial results reveal, while profit per equity partner (PEP) saw a slight dip.

Turnover at the insurance and litigation specialist rose 1% to £110.1m, with the firm’s commercial & financial markets disputes, insurance, and technology & media practices among the primary drivers of growth as the financial year closed. PEP, meanwhile, fell 4% to £424,000, albeit after a striking 27% rise last year to £442,000 off the back of a contraction in the firm’s equity partnership. Continue reading “‘On the front foot’ – RPC upbeat after holding steady amid year of change”

27 July 2020

Dealwatch: ‘glass half-full’ as Global 100 leaders line up on Centrica and eBay disposals

Dealmakers could almost be forgiven for asking ‘what crisis?’ lately as a raft of recent major deals, including Centrica’s $3.6bn sale of its US energy business and Adevinta’s $9.2bn acquisition of eBay’s classifieds business, have kept Global 100 lawyers on their toes during lockdown.

These major transactions, along with a raft of private equity deals involving Silver Lake, have kept international playmakers inundated during what, by rights, should have been a less than optimistic period. Continue reading “Dealwatch: ‘glass half-full’ as Global 100 leaders line up on Centrica and eBay disposals”

24 July 2020

‘Strong foundation’: Another year of steady growth as Simmons prepares for challenges ahead

Simmons & Simmons has recorded another year of steady growth, its latest financial results reveal, with all key financial metrics up as the firm readies itself for more difficult times ahead.

The firm’s financial results published today (24 July) show firmwide revenue rose 4% to £390m, a slow rate on last year’s 6% increase and a considerable drop from the firm’s 12% hike in 2018. Meanwhile, the firm’s overall profit stood at £126m, up 6% on last year and profit per equity partner growth surpassed last year’s figure, hiking 7% to £756,000. Continue reading “‘Strong foundation’: Another year of steady growth as Simmons prepares for challenges ahead “

24 July 2020

HFW bounces back with profit and turnover growth in a strong 2019/20

HFW produced a strong showing over the last financial year, its latest financial results reveal, with profits rebounding and revenues up after a muted performance in 2018/19.

Profits were up to £47.3m this year after dipping 9% to £43.3m the previous year, while profit per equity partner recovered 11% to £526,000 following a 11% deficit in the 2018/19 results. Revenue, meanwhile, also grew: up 9% to £195.2m, while revenue per lawyer rose 7% to £389,000. Continue reading “HFW bounces back with profit and turnover growth in a strong 2019/20”