LG has turned in disappointing end-of-year financial results, revealing static turnover and a drop in partner profits at the mid-tier City firm.
The top 50 UK outfit – known as Lawrence Graham before its rebranding as LG earlier this year – has seen turnover remain flat at £66m, while average profits per equity partner (PEP) dropped by 7.5% from last year’s figure of £465,000 to a new mark of £430,000.
LG pointed to costs associated with its recent office move to new premises in More London on the capital's South Bank as a prime factor in its modest financial performance.
Managing partner Penny Francis told Legal Week: “We’ve had a big year and lots of expenses but it’s the right thing for us. We’re in a great building but it doesn’t come cheap. This is not a short-term fix for our PEP but the right thing for our business."
Francis conceded that the firm had also suffered costs associated with the departure of the majority of its outsourcing team.
The results come with a number of City rivals announcing double-digit increases in turnover and PEP. LG joins a handful of firms to see partner profits fall for the last 12 months, with national firm Irwin Mitchell seeing PEP drop by 5% from £525,000 to £500,000 against a 13% rise in turnover.
City giant Herbert Smith and top 20 firm Clyde & Co are also among those UK practices not to have improved their profitability this year.
Is a dip in performance inevitable when moving offices? Have your say on LG's results with the Legal Week Wiki 2007 results special.
Editors' blog: Paul Hodkinson compares the contrasting financial performances of SJ Berwin and Lawrence Graham over the last five years .
