Hammonds has unveiled its best financial performance in years with a 23% surge in average profits per equity partner (PEP) to break £400,000.
PEP rose to £404,000 from last year’s figure of £328,000, while fee income saw more modest growth of just 2.5% to £127.6m. Total profits were up 11% to £29.3m.
The firm also said it has reduced its overdraft by 65%. The debt, which once stood at around £30m, is thought to have been cut to approximately £10m.
Highlights of the last 12 months include winning Tesco, Honda and British Energy as new clients and securing a £2.3m cash windfall after agreeing a new property deal for its Manchester office.
The result will come as a boost to Hammonds following several difficult difficult years in which the national firm has experienced a number of senior departures. The firm currently has 74 equity partners.
Commenting on the results, Hammonds managing partner Peter Crossley suggested productivity had improved across the entire practice, saying: “We have introduced a more dynamic performance culture into the business. There is also greater self-belief and a mood of optimism and increasing self-confidence.”
Pointing to the modest turnover growth, Crossley added: “It was not as though we budgeted for massive top-line growth. This was always going to be a year for cementing the recovery and the turnaround we achieved in 2006.”
The results mean the UK’s five major national firms - Eversheds, Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons and Hammonds - have outperformed the top 50 UK law firms as a whole.
The group of national firms posted average PEP of £557,000 for 2006-07, representing an average increase of 18% on last year's figures.
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