Ashurst has seen profits per equity partner (PEP) drop by more than a third during 2008-09.

The top 10 City law firm has reported PEP of £673,000 for the last financial year, a 35% fall on the equivalent 2007-08 figure of £1.04m.

It means the top and bottom of the lockstep now ranges from £355,000 to £930,000, compared with £560,000 to £1.46m in 2007-08.

News of the fall in profits comes slightly more than a month after Ashurst announced a 7% dip in revenues over the last financial year, from £323m down to £301m. At that time it predicted a substantial drop in PEP as a result of investment in new office openings in Hong Kong, New York and Washington.

The dip in PEP also takes into account the firm's investment in new IT systems over the last financial year and costs of a partner restructuring. The firm declined to comment on how many partners have left this year but Legal Week reported in January that 10 partners, including some choosing to retire for lifestyle reasons, would leave the equity.

Simon Bromwich, Ashurst managing partner, told Legal Week: "It's exactly in line with the expectations we've had since late last year. We've made investments over the last financial year and we also had some partners leave, so all those costs have gone in.

He added: "Thirty-five percent down is a significant drop but it has to be looked at in the context of 2007 and 2008, which were really good years. That said, PEP needs to go back up and we are determined to do that as quickly as possible."