Simmons & Simmons has revealed its official financial results for 2009-10, posting an 11.3% drop in profits per equity partner (PEP).

The UK top 15 law firm's PEP now stands at £461,000, down almost £60,000 from the figure of £520,000 recorded in the 2008-09 financial year.

The firm has also confirmed 2009-10 turnover of £251m, a 13.8% decline on the previous year's total of £291.3m.

Commenting on the results, Simmons & Simmons managing partner Mark Dawkins (pictured) said: "These results reflect the continuing challenges in the market, but show resilience, notwithstanding a lot of change over the last 12 months. Our results were affected by one-off costs, such as demerging from our Portuguese practice and closing our Moscow office."

"We will continue to develop ways to provide greater value for our clients, by examining different ways of working. The launch of our [legal process outsourcing] programme during this financial year is testament to this, and the firm remains committed to maintaining our reputation as innovators."

Despite the decline in average PEP, the top and bottom of Simmons' equity ladder remained the same, ranging from £240,000 up to £850,000 for the top earners.

Simmons is the last UK top 50 firm to announce its financial results after declining to give out unaudited figures.

Many of the UK's top 50 firms saw revenues slide during 2009-10, but a large number saw partner profits recover this year.

Legal Week's annual top 50 survey revealed that, as a group, revenues across the top 50 fell by by £461m from £12.33bn in 2009 to £11.87bn, while average PEP rose by almost 9%.