Hill Dickinson has reported positive half-year results for 2018-19, with a 9% increase in total billings on last year.

The firm took in revenues of £43.6m against a budget of £41.4m, a 9.4% increase on the equivalent 2017-18 H1 figure of £40m.

Last year's figure of £40m does not include the firm's £23m insurance business group, which was transferred to Keoghs this February in a deal that saw 17 partners and 311 staff move over. As such, the year-on-year growth represents a like-for-like comparison with the performance of the remainder of the firm.

CEO Peter Jackson told Legal Week: "Transferring out the insurance business has given us great momentum. It really buoyed the partners to drive the business forward, and enabled us to focus on our key areas and really invest in those areas.

"Our strategic objective is to grow a sustainable and profitable business, partnering with clients to provide commercial solutions in their specialist markets. The past 12 months have allowed us to concentrate on building upon our core strengths – the business, health and marine sectors – and we are now seeing the benefits of this focus."

Jackson said that a recovery in the shipping sector, with generally higher freight rates and increased commodities prices, had helped to boost the firm's revenues.

The firm's health and corporate practices also contributed to rising revenues, with Jackson adding that the corporate team had been boosted by a "flurry of activity" in listings by medicinal cannabis companies on the AIM market, a "niche specialism" that Jackson said the firm has developed.

This summer, the firm posted revenues of £96.8m for the full 2017-18 financial year, down 5% on the previous year.

Jackson commented: "It's interesting to note that parts of our business were growing in any event – the declining insurance business is why it looked flat. Having stripped it out, the real evidence of growth is now there."