Nabarro has reversed a three-year trend of falling profitability, with the firm confirming a 4.4% rise in profits per equity partner (PEP) in the wake of a restructuring which saw it cut 17 partners from the equity during the last financial year.

The firm's PEP figure, which fell from £610,000 in 2007-08 to £318,000 in 2010-11, has crept back up to £332,000 this year following a performance review of the firm's equity partnership which resulted in 17 partners leaving the equity, some of who have subsequently left the firm.

The top and bottom of the equity at Nabarro last year stood at £513,000 to £204,000 respectively.

The restructuring means equity partner numbers fell to 73 at the end of the last financial year compared with 87 at the same point in 2011.

Confirmation of the rise in PEP, the first since 2007-08, comes after Nabarro last month posted revenues of £113.4m for the 2011-12 financial year, representing a marginal 1% increase on the previous year's turnover figure, which stood at £112.6m.

Simon Johnston, senior partner at Nabarro, commented: "After stabilising turnover last year, the firm has made good progress during 2011-12 in establishing a strong platform for growth, despite the ongoing economic uncertainty in the UK and Europe. An increase in PEP, combined with the small rise in turnover this year, are welcome. We will be investing in key areas over the coming months and I believe this investment, efficiencies we have already achieved, and increased productivity will signal a return to growth for the firm."

Last year Nabarro also announced an overhaul of its partner remuneration system, increasing the size of the bonus pool used to reward star performers and expanding the criteria used for deciding partner compensation.

The firm introduced merit-based pay for partners more than 10 years ago and currently sets aside around 1% of its profits for a bonus pool used to reward a handful of top performers. It is now considering increasing this to around 5% of profits, to give it more flexibility to better reward high achievers.