Clifford Chance (CC) has said it is back on track to achieve its 2014-2015 revenue targets in Asia after seeing a slowdown in the last financial year amid a slump in capital markets and M&A work.

The magic circle firm, which recorded a 3% drop in Asia revenues in the financial year 2012-2013, said it had adjusted its expectations to account for market volatility, but was still eyeing revenues close to its original £250m goal following a flurry of new deals.

"The year [2013] started slow and finished fast," said Peter Charlton, the firm's Asia managing partner.

"The M&A and capital markets slowdown lasted about 12 months, in particular on the IPO side.

"But capital markets came back in March, and I can't speak for others, but now we are pretty busy on quite a large number, more than we've ever had going on at one time before.

"So we're on track to meet our targets. [£250m] was the number we were expecting by the 2014-2015 financial year, but of course that was the target set before the slowdown in Asia which was 2011-2012.

"We have recalibrated and we are still aiming to be close to that by 2014-2015, but I suspect it will undershoot a little bit – maybe something like £230m, it all depends on the market."

Asia would likely account for increasingly more of the firm's global revenues, he added, providing market conditions remained favourable.

In the financial year ending April 30 2013, the region accounted for 14 percent of CC's income.

Across the firm's core practices, litigation is currently the most profitable in Asia, due to an increase in financial investigations work and disputes associated with the shift in economic conditions.

However, Charlton said the firm would remain focused on having a balanced practice.

"Litigation has been particularly strong in the past five years which reflects the global climate, and that has been very significant for us in Asia.

"But it changes every year. Our aim is not only to have a profitable Asian practice but a balanced practice which is well hedged in terms of the range of what we do to ride out the volatility in the market."

As the UK's highest grossing law firm, CC currently has 35 offices globally, nine of which are located in Asia Pacific across China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Australia.

In the last five years the firm has sought to boost profitability in the region by adding both partners and new revenue streams, including offices in South Korea and Australia, where it previously had no presence.

Since 2009, the firm has increased its partner headcount from 50 to 90 in Asia, with appointments made across the four key practice areas of finance, corporate, capital markets and litigation.

The Seoul office opened in 2012 after CC became the first UK outfit to gain approval to launch in South Korea, whilst those in Sydney and Perth launched in 2011 after tie-ups with local players Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe and Chang Pistilli & Simmons.

In Australia, Charlton said the firm had faced a difficult year but was also looking forward to a busier period.

"We've had a pretty tough last 12 months [in Australia] because of the slowdown in Asia, which was connected to the end of commodities boom, a slowdown in Chinese demand, and the impact on the M&A market.

"However, it is starting to stabilise – they've just had an election. I think Australia will also benefit from devaluation of the Australian dollar which has been overvalued."

He said the priority in Australia would continue to be high-end M&A and associated project work, in addition to strategic litigation and finance, with the possibility of developing a separate capital markets practice.

The firm currently has no plans to open further offices in the country.

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