City’s law firms navigate choppy pandemic seas with aplomb
Despite the disruption caused by Covid-19, City law firms have continued to display strong financial results as senior partners head off on long-awaited summer breaks.
Ashurst, currently advising Morrisons on a £6.3bn takeover, saw their revenue rise 10 per cent from £644 million to £711 million. Additionally, profit per equity partner rose 15 per cent on the previous financial year reaching £1.04 million.
The silver circle firm attributed much of their “impressive performance”, predominantly in corporate work within the UK, Germany, and Australia, to a “strong appetite for M&A as companies reshape for a post-pandemic future”.
Ashurst’s global managing partner, Paul Jenkins added: “We continued our financial growth trajectory with strong FY21 results, marking the fifth consecutive year of revenue growth for the firm. While some practices and markets during the early part of the financial year were impacted by the pandemic, we continued to support clients as they navigated ongoing challenges and the firm experienced strong trading performance from the end of Q1 which produced a very good set of full-year results.”
City competitor Simmons & Simmons followed suit in recording strong results, with revenue growing 12% on the previous FY to hit £437 million. PEP (profit per equity partner) soared to £980,000, an increase of 30%, and profit boosted 35% to £171 million.
Read more: Law firm DWF reports strong year with revenue over £400m
“Despite the unprecedented challenges and uncertainty of the last 12 months, we have seen some substantial growth. As a firm, we have proven our resilience — thanks in part to the versatility of our business and the products and services we have developed as well as the tremendous support we have received from our clients over the past year,” said, managing partner, Jeremy Hoyland.
Dentons however, who recently advised on financing an extension of Poland’s largest wind farm, reported relatively underwhelming figures, with revenue across UKIME increasing only 1 per cent to £223.2 million. The firm decided not to disclose its PEP or overall profit figures.
UKIME CEO, Paul Jarvis said the firm would “continue to invest in quality lateral hires so that we can continue to grow in our strategic growth areas whilst keeping the interests of the client front and centre of everything we do.”
DWF who, from 1 May 2021, streamlined into three more “streamlined and efficient” global divisions of (i) Legal Advisory, (ii) Mindcrest, (iii) Connected Services, reported very welcome results.
The listed law firm confirmed net revenue growth is up 14 per cent to £338 million as gross profit hit £172 million – an increase of 21 per cent.
DWF CEO, Sir Nigel Knowles, said it had beeb a “transformational year.”
“The results reflect a return to pre-Covid-19 activity levels, but they also evidence the importance of the decisive actions we took throughout the year as we focused on driving greater operational efficiency, profitability and strategic alignment,” he continued.
Read more: The City View with Sir Nigel Knowles