Osborne Clarke continues UK's firm revenue upswing

Osborne Clarke continues UK's firm revenue upswing

The London-based firm's revenue grew by 7 per cent to €341 million while PEP increased to £714k

UK law firms' upswing during a difficult phase continues with yet another firm reporting revenue hike and increased profit per equity partner (PEP).

Osborne Clarke's UK profit per equity partner increased 16 per cent to hit £714,000 over its last year's financial results. It had gone down by 12 per cent the year before to £614,000. The firm has announced its revenue grew by 7 per cent to €341 million in the financial year ending 30 April.

The London-based firm's increase in revenue and PEP is broadly in line with the results reported so far by other top 50 UK firms. The average revenue hike and PEP coming to 6.7 per cent and 17.8 per cent respectively.

Omar Al-Nuaimi, Osborne Clarke's international CEO, attributed the better results as the outcome of a lot of dedication and hard work. "Despite the challenging circumstances of the last year, our people maintained an excellent level of focus, always keeping clients' needs in mind and working alongside them as many grappled with rapidly evolving business models. We are so proud of their response," Al-Nuaimi said.

Osborne Clarke has reported that its UK revenue grew up 8 per cent to reach £166.4 million while the UK net profit increased 14 per cent to hit £67.9 million.

The sector-wise breakup announced by the firm suggests that all its four UK service lines witnessed revenue growth. The disputes and risk registered a 14 per cent hike, business transactions 9 per cent, projects, real estate and finance 3 per cent and advisory 2 per cent.

The technology, media and communications witnessed a 21 per cent growth, followed by retail and consumer at 16 per cent, energy and utilities at 8 per cent and financial services at 7 per cent.

According to Al-Nuaimi, the firm's international business has been growing at the rate of 9 per cent year-on-year since 2015-2016. The firm has also increased the number of multijurisdictional clients (served in five or more jurisdictions) by 83 per cent and upped its cash resources by 14 per cent to £41.1 million.