Pinsent Masons' profits fell last year for the first time in nearly a decade, according to its latest set of LLP accounts.

The firm posted operating profits of £142.7 million in the last financial year, representing a drop of 1% compared to 2018—its first overall profit drop since 2011.

In addition, Pinsents' top-paid partner saw their pay packet fall by over 10% to £1.1 million, while the firm's management team received £6.3 million, down 3% on the previous year.

However, the firm posted a 6% rise in its overall turnover, increasing its top line from £450.1 million to £478.3 million.

In a statement to Legal Week, Pinsents managing partner John Cleland said: "Our FY18/19 accounts show a business with strong fundamentals and a long-term outlook. Our partners are committed to making the investments in our platform that will ensure we remain relevant to clients, and the communities in which we operate, now and in the future.

"FY18/19 was a year in which we continued our transition from an expertise-based law firm to a professional services business with law at its core, and invested in expanding our range of adjacent skillsets and offerings to deliver better solutions for and with our clients."

In July, the firm cited the need to ring-fence significant funds for further investment in areas including IT and cyber security as one of the core reasons for a decline in its profit per equity partner (PEP).

Back in March, the firm launched its flexible lawyering arm Vario in Hong Kong, taking on the former Axiom Asia head Kirsty Dougan.

It also became the latest firm to establish a project management division aimed at helping support delivery of matters on time and on budget in November.

At the tail-end of the last financial year, however, the firm witnessed a number of partner departures, including  energy partner Chris McGarvey and employment partner Steven Cochrane to CMS; David McEwing to Addleshaw Goddard and Joel Kordan to Pennington Manches.

More recently, the firm delayed its partners' profit distributions in October, due to the firm failing to hit billing and cash collection targets during the start of the financial year.