Travers Smith has recorded a 4% rise in revenue to £125m, marking eight consecutive years of growth, while the firm’s profits fell amid investment and challenging market conditions.
The firm’s 2016/17 financial results revealed a dip in profit per equity partner (PEP), alongside a decline in the pace of expansion at the firm, whose financial year runs until 30 June.
PEP fell 4.4% to £970,000, meaning the firm was back below the £1m barrier it broke with last year.
However, Travers managing partner David Patient (pictured) attributed the fall in PEP to the firm’s investment in its people and business, stating that it was ‘right in the middle’ of a period of ‘significant investment’.
‘The costs of running our business have gone up. Our results are, therefore, encouraging in the context of the investments made to date, and we are pretty happy with the direction of travel over the last few years,’ he said.
The results would have been ‘at the very top end of my expectations 12 months ago’ Patient added.
‘Our latest financial year started one week after the surprise Brexit vote, and there is no denying that, as a result, this year has presented a number of challenges for our clients, our firm and the legal profession as a whole. But with uncertainty comes complexity and opportunity,’ Patient added.
There are 77 partners at the firm, which is headquartered in London with a Paris office.
Chris Hale, who was re-elected senior partner at the beginning of 2017, highlighted transactional, advisory and dispute resolution as best performing practices in the firm over the financial year.
In July 2016, Travers acted for the Lehman Brothers International Europe administrators at London’s High Court against ExxonMobil Financial Services over a multimillion dollar loan. The firm also advised Pinewood Group during its £323m takeover by PW Real Estate Fund III in August 2016 and on Xafinity’s £190.3m flotation in February 2017.
Hale said the firm remained ‘cautiously optimistic’ for the coming months and ‘the opportunities that will flow from these unusual times’. He added that the next few years would remain challenging.
