CMS has unveiled a marginal increase in revenue for the 2013/14 financial year, with turnover up by under 1% from €837.7m to €842.1m for the year ending 31 December 2013.
The 3,000 fee-earner firm said today (5 June) that its profits during that period rose moderately by 3.3% from the previous year, although the firm has yet to provide its underlying figures.
The results, which come after the firm’s merger with Scottish firm Dundas & Wilson at the end of 2013, follow a 2011/12 revenue increase of 5.1%. However, CMS executive chairman Cornelius Brandi said: ‘2013 was a particularly good year for CMS. Despite the global economic situation, we managed to increase our revenue and our profitability.
‘We established an office in Istanbul which has in its first six months of existence proved successful and we signed a co-operation agreement with energy specialists Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow in Mexico.
‘All of these are constructive developments that show CMS as an attractive partnering option within the legal industry. We are proud that in 15 years we have built the largest legal footprint in Europe and are consistently ranked number one for M&A deal volume in the region.
‘CMS is in a very strong competitive position in our key sectors of energy, financial services, life sciences and TMT, where we executed some highly complex cross-border matters in 2013. We feel confident that there are opportunities ahead as we move towards a more positive economic outlook across the world.’
Standout deals include advising Telefónica Deutschland on its acquisition of E-Plus for €3.7bn and acting for Statoil on the divestment of UK and Norwegian Continental Shelf assets to OMV for $2.65bn.
Other UK firms to have disclosed their 2013/14 financial results include Berwin Leighton Paisner, where revenue has increased by 6%, and Charles Russell, which has seen a 7% rise in turnover for the period.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk