John Cleland, Managing Partner at Pinsent Masons

Profit per equity partner (PEP) at Pinsent Masons has fallen by double-digits, as the firm's revenue growth slowed to 4% for the last financial year.

According to the latest financial results published by the firm, PEP now stands at £546,000, a fall of 12% compared to last year. The figure is the lowest PEP since 2014-15 and well below its all-time high of £653,000 posted in 2017-18.

Overall, revenue at the firm grew slightly to £495.9 million, up from £482 million last year, although the rate of growth fell.

Gross profit at the firm also fell slightly by 1.3%, according to the firm. The decline adds to the slump recorded in the firm's 2018-19 LLP accounts, which recorded a drop in profit for the first time since 2011. 

Reflecting on the latest results, Pinsents managing partner John Cleland said that the decline was due in part to inward investment by the firm. 

"You do see a decline in PEP where basically you're investing in the business for the longer term, and this has been a year of inward investment," Cleland said. "I would see it as being a bit of a transitory period in which investment in the business has been a core focus." 

Key investments cited by Cleland included the firm's acquisitions of German contract legal businesses Xenia and Xenion, the launch of the firm's diversity and inclusion consultancy, Brook Graham, in Asia and the growth of the firm's flexible-lawyering service, Vario.  

Cleland pointed to regions such as France and Asia as having achieved particularly impressive results, and he singled out the firm's construction and technology, science and industry practices for praise.

Despite the downward turn in profit, the firm expanded various parts of the business across 2019 and 2020.

In October, Pinsents launched its own in-house project management arm, aimed at helping support delivery of matters on time and on budget for clients. This was followed by the launch  in Germany of Vario, the firm's flexible-lawyering service.

More recently the firm has broadened its practice in Singapore with the hire of two fintech partners from K&L Gates. The firm has also hired three partners in the past 12 months from Norton Rose Fulbright in Australia.

However, the firm has also contended with long-running delays to its partner profit distributions. In July, the firm scrapped quarterly pay-outs to the partnership after the third delay in nine months, more recently citing the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for the deferrals.

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