Macfarlanes news, updates and analysis | Page 6 of 8

Pound for pound one of the most successful UK firms in financial terms over the last five years, Macfarlanes has once again posted an impressive set of figures with double-digit growth in both revenue and profits for the second year running. At £1.55m, Macfarlanes’ profit per equity partner (PEP) is now stronger than all of the big four Magic Circle firms.

Revenue grew an impressive 14% to £159.6m for the 2014/15 financial year, up from £139.7m having grown 22% from 2013/14. Profits climbed 26% to £81.7m with PEP jumping 30% from £1.2m to £1.55m following a 21% increase the previous year. In PEP terms, based on last year’s Legal Business 100 stats and the results already in from the Magic Circle for 2014/15, Macfarlanes would be bettered only by Slaughter and May from the top 100.

These figures mark the firm’s fifth consecutive year of top line growth, up an eye-catching 73% since the 2009/10 financial year. The firm’s PEP over this period is even more impressive, growing a 118% from £711,000 in the last five years.

Unlike some Global 100 firms and the Magic Circle’s big four, Macfarlanes has bounced back incredibly considering its revenues were down 10% and 7% in 2008/09 and 2009/10 respectively after a stark decline in corporate work post-Lehman hit the firm hard.

‘We are in a very different business,’ said senior partner Charles Martin (pictured). ‘We compete with the Magic Circle in some ways but we don’t see them in every market. We don’t have the complexities and layers of cost that they have because of their scale. Our success comes down to a simple business model – some would say that’s old-fashioned but not having grown to some extent makes our partnership more adaptable. We bounced back after the downturn because changes were easy to drive.

‘We have seen some important client gains and some interesting trends but as usual, it is our loyal longstanding clients that came back strongly last year.’

Martin also pointed out that 2014/15 was also a year in which the firm’s almost entirely sterling billings were a distinct advantage. A depressed euro has been a key factor affecting the billings of the big four, while a weaker Australian dollar has also played its role for Anglo-Australian firms.

Some highlight mandates in the past year for Macfarlanes include representing Verizon Communications on its acquisition of Vodafone’s 45% interest in Verizon Wireless for $130bn, for which the firm picked up Corporate Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards this year; and acting for London Bridge Holdings on the sale of the More London valued at £1.7bn.

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Macfarlanes has achieved a high double digit jump in both revenue and profit per equity partner (PEP) for the 2013/14 financial period, with both up by over 20%, as the top 35 UK firm breaks through the £1m PEP threshold.

The 324-lawyer firm revealed today (9 July) that its unaudited turnover was up 22% to £139.7m for the period, compared to £114.2m last financial year, while PEP has come in at £1.19m, a 21% increase on the £985,000 recorded in 2013.

The firm, which includes 54 equity partners, said around 41% of its fee income came from its City corporate practice, followed by 18% from finance and around 15% from its disputes practice. Approximatey 13% of the remaining fee income came from real estate and 13% from private client.

Macfarlanes senior partner Charles Martin told Legal Business: ‘These results evidence a year in which we were very busy and in which our clients entrusted us with important, complex work across the board. It is of course great to see the hard work of the past twelve months paying off but we are never ones to rest on our laurels.

‘We are in a rapidly changing market that remains highly competitive: one in which clients have real choices, where value for money is often a priority for our clients, and where questions that would not have been asked are often asked. It is challenging every day and we relish rising to that challenge.’

Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

See also Life during law: Charles Martin