Macfarlanes has had its best year by a country mile, outperforming every other firm in the City on profit and profit per equity partner growth*.

The firm had a stellar year in 2013/14, helped by working on the massive Verizon deal. Somehow it's managed to top that. Turnover is up 14.2% to £159.65m, profit is up 26.4% to £81.67m, and equity partners are pulling in an average of £1.55m. That's 29.6% up on the previous year.

The firm has been helped by a number of factors. It is unencumbered by expensive foreign offices, its bills are in muscular British pounds rather than flabby Greek euros, it has the work ethic of a Calvinist ant colony and a puritanical approach to cost control that extends to rationing loo roll.

Senior Partner Charles Martin told RollOnFriday that "we were busy across the practice throughout the year... We have seen standout matters across corporate, litigation and real estate to name just a few." He added that the results were "flattered by the release of provisions that we were required to make in the preceding year for overdue fees which were subsequently settled". He was being modest: even if profits in 2013/14 had been artificially depressed by those provisions, PEP still went up 21% that year, and went up by 10% the year before, so the trend is clear.

    A Macfarlanes partner yesterday.

It was a slightly different story at Clifford Chance and Freshfields, both of which have been hit by currency fluctuations. Turnover and profits at both firms were essentially flat, and equity partners takings were 2% down at CC and 8% down at Freshfields. Although given that they still trousered an average of £1.12m and £1.37m respectively they probably managed to make ends meet.

*With the sole exception, presumably, of Slaughter and May which doesn't release its results. But given that Slaughters is essentially Macfarlanes on steroids, S&M's postroom crew no doubt beat yesterday's tube strike in their Bentleys.
Tip Off ROF

Comments

Anonymous 10 July 15 09:26

Should that read 'every other firm' apart from US firms, which are in a different league?

Anonymous 10 July 15 09:51

Also quite misleading since half of Macfarlanes partner arent even in the equity anyway.

Anonymous 11 July 15 13:28

Anon - "outperforming every other firm in the City" - no need to detail the USA as it already states, "IN THE CITY"

I