Newly published accounts reveal that Clarke Wilmott's operating profit in 2009/10 fell by 78% from £13.3m to just £2.9m.
To be fair, the accounting period was 11 months compared to the previous 13, so it's not really comparing apples with apples. But that's a massive drop nonetheless. The accounts also reveal that the firm's partners pumped £1.89m into the business - that's around £33,000 of post-tax cash each. Ouch. And, according to the Lawyer, the firm also secured a bank loan of £3.8m and an overdraft facility of £2m, neither of which will have come cheap in this market. By RollOnFriday's reckoning, equity partners will have ended the year earning less than their cleaners.
Chairman Stephen Rosser told RollOnFriday that 2009/10 had "not been an easy period", but that the figures had been magnified as a result of an exceptional item increasing profits in the previous year. He said that since then things had picked up significantly, and that operating profit for the first six months of this year was already £3m, with turnover up at £18.5m - slightly ahead of budget.
Tip Off ROF
To be fair, the accounting period was 11 months compared to the previous 13, so it's not really comparing apples with apples. But that's a massive drop nonetheless. The accounts also reveal that the firm's partners pumped £1.89m into the business - that's around £33,000 of post-tax cash each. Ouch. And, according to the Lawyer, the firm also secured a bank loan of £3.8m and an overdraft facility of £2m, neither of which will have come cheap in this market. By RollOnFriday's reckoning, equity partners will have ended the year earning less than their cleaners.
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A CW partner budgets for the month |
Chairman Stephen Rosser told RollOnFriday that 2009/10 had "not been an easy period", but that the figures had been magnified as a result of an exceptional item increasing profits in the previous year. He said that since then things had picked up significantly, and that operating profit for the first six months of this year was already £3m, with turnover up at £18.5m - slightly ahead of budget.