Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's key management figures received £18.1m during the 2015-16 financial year, the magic circle firm's accounts show.

The firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts for the year to 30 April 2016 show that the amount paid out to the top management team increased by 8%, from £16.8m in 2014-15 to £18.1m.

The management group consists of the firm's senior partner, managing partners and heads of global practice groups.

The LLPs also show that profit available for division among members fell almost 25% to £393.1m, down from £514m last year, while revenue increased slightly to £1.285bn – an increase of less than half a percent on 2014-15′s figure of £1.279bn.

The figure of £1.285bn falls more than £40m short of the revenue total the firm reported in July, when it posted a 6.6% increase to £1.327bn.

However, this was due to different exchange rate calculations. In reporting its results, the firm uses an exchange rate at the end of the year to convert its results to sterling, whereas for the LLP accounts an average rate across the year is used.

Staff costs increased to £584.5m from £562.9m the previous year, a 3.7% increase, while other operating costs increased slightly to £197.4m from £193m.

The firm also put aside a significant amount of money in provisions for retired members' annuities, accounting for £94.4m, compared to an increase of £6.7m the preceding year. This took the firm's total provisions for retired and current members past the £1bn mark – standing at £1.084bn, up from £989.4m last year.

According to the accounts, the annuities payable to retired partners are funded from future profits, capped each year at a maximum of 7.5% of the applicable profit of the firm.

Stripping out the provisions for partner annuities, profit dipped only slightly, from £505.3m to £500.3m, a fall of 1%.

The average number of members fell from 334 to 324, while the number of fee earners fell from 2,640 to 2,511, a fall of 129. Secretarial and support staff numbers were largely static, with 2,111 in 205-16 compared to 2,119 in the preceding year.