King & Spalding is the latest US firm to post its financials for 2014, and has unveiled a respectable 8% increase in revenue to $934m from $861.4m, while it has notably surpassed the $1m revenue per lawyer threshold with a 7% rise to $1.055m for the first time in the firm’s history.
Revenue growth over the last five years represented an overall increase of $250m or 38%. Meanwhile, profit per equity partner enjoyed a 10% increase to $2.36m from $2.14m the year before, while over the last 5 years the firm saw PEP increase 60%, while growing the partnership 15% (scale and profitability).
Net income grew 14% in 2014 and has nearly doubled over five years from $218m in 2009 to $400m in 2014. Other notable stats includes the firm’s profit margin improving by 12% over five years from 30% to 42%.
Major instructions for the firm last year included securing an arbitration award of $506m plus interest against the Republic of Kazakhstan on behalf of Moldovan investors Anatolie and Gabriel Stati and their companies, Ascom SA and Terra Raf Trans Traiding, constituting the largest award under the Energy Charter Treaty and the third-largest treaty arbitration award in history.
It further advised Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi, a leading Turkish participation bank, on the issuance of $500m senior unsecured certificates due 2019, and represented the Greek government on landmark agreements for the award of the first new oil and gas exploration leases in the country for nearly 20 years, with an estimated investment value of €700m.
US firms’ financials are continuing their positive trend, with recent releases showing revenue spikes and profit boosts including for Davis Polk & Wardwell and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison which both broke the billion-dollar mark in gross revenues last year.
For more analysis of the surging US market see: The blessed – unheralded, Wall Street’s elite comes roaring back
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk