Mayer Brown has released its LLP results for the year ending 2012/13 for the UK business, reporting a 9.5% loss in revenues while profits are down by 5.5%.
The top 30 Global100 firm’s UK results filed with Companies House on 3 February show its turnover dropped from £105.9m in 2012 to £95.8m last year. Profits also dropped from £22m to £20.8m over the same period, while its operating profits fell from just under £31m in 2012 to £29.1m in 2013.
The firm’s net debt however, also fell to £25.6m in 2013 from nearly £34m in the previous year. Its overdraft, which stood at £3.7m in 2012, was significantly cut to £228,296 during that period, while the cash position at the 1,536-lawyer firm improved from £405,916 in 2011/12 to just over £2m in the last year.
Overall staff headcount fell from 468 to 428, including 44 less support staff and 14 less legal staff compared to the previous year.
Correspondingly, the firm’s staff costs were lower last year, at £31.3m from £34.3m, while the total amount paid out in salaries also decreased to £27m from £29.6m.
Nevertheless, the firm’s highest paid equity member took home slightly more in 2013 at £1.16m, up from £1.05m.
The firm said in the filings that while the business environment continued to be challenging, its members’ profitability has been maintained through managing its cost base, reducing operating expenses by 11% and a decrease in headcount.
Elsewhere, Pinsent Masons accounts revealed that the cost of its merger with Scottish firm McGrigors in May 2012 was £20m, although it received £17m directly from the merger.
The merger also had a significant impact on Pinsent’s 2011/12 turnover, with the top 20 LB100 firm posting a 39% increase in revenue from £220.5m to £306.7m, while profits were up from £62.9m to £85.6m.
McGrigors turnover for the 2011-12 financial year was £43m with a profit of £13m.
The merger also largely accounts for the additional 418 fee-earners who have joined Pinsents, including an extra 39 equity partners and 62 non-equity partners.
The firm’s highest paid member received £590,200, up from £531,600 the previous year.
However, the firm’s overdraft has gone up by over £9m, to £9.7m and its overall costs have risen by 43% to £136m.
Also revealing its last pre-merger figures was Dickinson Dees, which saw its merger with Bond Pearce go live in May 2013. Its filings reveal a modest 3.2% increase in revenues to £47.3m but a slight reduction in profits of 0.6% to just over £12m. This is in contrast to Bond Pearce’s LLP accounts filed in December, which revealed an 11% increase in revenue to £51.8m, up from £46.5m in 2011-12.
Dickinson Dees’ highest paid member received almost 10% more than in the previous financial year, taking home £300,000.
The firm’s borrowing also increased, with its bank overdraft facility up to £2.3m from £1.6m and its net debt having increased by over a £1m to almost £6m.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk, david.stevenson@legalease.co.uk