Top-50 firm Macfarlanes has reported an upturn in trading performance following a slide in profits last year.
Unaudited results released today by the Holborn, London-headquartered firm show operating profits rose 23.1% to £174m on turnover up 13.7% to £309m in the 11-month period from May 2023 to March 2024. Profit per equity partner increased 23.8% to £2.6m.
In 2022-23 operating profit slipped 6.1% to £154.1m, on income down 2.3% to £296.6m.
Senior partner Sebastian Prichard Jones commented: ‘We were fortunate that our mix of practices saw high demand in 2023-24 in a challenging economic environment. We saw particularly strong performances from our transactional practices, especially with clients operating in the financial services space.
‘Our ability to operate in the overlap between entrepreneurs and their businesses stood us in good stead. Our litigation and Investigations practice, which has doubled in size over the last ten years, enjoyed a record year.’
Elsewhere, City firm Bird & Bird saw revenue increase by over 10% to £545m, pushing profit per equity partner up 8.1% to €837k. Net profit rose 5%. Christian Bartsch, CEO of Bird & Bird, said: ‘Our strong strategic focus on technology and the exceptional work of our people has led to another positive year of growth for Bird & Bird.
‘Our lawyers are continuously tackling tech-related issues, particularly with the increasing impact of GenAI on businesses worldwide, and their deep sector expertise and knowledge means they are well placed to help our clients navigate these matters.’
