Spanish independent Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira has posted a 1.2% rise in revenues for the 2012 financial year, while local rival Gomez-Acebo & Pombo has seen fee income drop by a similar percentage.

Cuatrecasas reported turnover last year of €245.6m (£211.5m), up on €242.5m (£209.3m) at the end of the 2011 financial year.

Overall the firm's corporate and commercial practice was the strongest performer, accounting for 34% of turnover, followed closely by the tax practice with 32%. The litigation practice contributed 23%, while the labour and employment practice amounted to 11%.

The firm's nine overseas offices in Brussels, Casablanca, London, Luanda, Maputo, New York, Paris, Sao Paolo and Shanghai increased their revenue figures by over 15%.

Over the course of the year, the firm recruited over 150 lawyers, with fee-earner head count now standing at 1012 and support staff at around 500.

Meanwhile Gomez-Acebo saw turnover figures drop 1.4%, falling slightly to €61.9m (£52.8m) from €62.8m (£53.6m) in 2011. The firm reduced lawyer headcount by 9% over the year, while expenses were cut by 4.5% and productivity grew 6.4%.

Meanwhile, the firm says it increased its average hourly rates by 12%, with billable time up by 1.9%. The average value of cases was 24.4% up.

Managing director Manuel Martin, who was re-elected to his leadership role for a further three-year term, said: "Last year we set the goal of increasing our competitiveness, becoming a higher quality business and achieving a more efficient, more productive and more financially sound structure. 2012 seems to confirm that the decisions we made a year ago were the right ones. In 2013, we will continue on this line of obvious improvement."

Fellow Spanish independent Garrigues, which works to a August year end, last year revealed a 5% dip in revenues for 2011-12 from €355.2m (£286m) to €337.6m (£271.8m).