Andrew Leaitherland, DWF Group CEO

DWF has announced it expects to grow its revenue for the first half of the current financial year by no less than 10%.

The firm's share price peaked at 133p this morning (November 18) following the announcement, and as of 9:50am stood at 128p. It is the first time the share price has surpassed its listing value of 125p per share.

The firm's statement added it has reduced its net debt by £9.5 million to £49.5 million, as well as a total £3 million dividend payment to partners in September.

The firm also announced a reduction in lockup days – how quickly the firm can collect cash from clients. The firm has reduced its lockup days by two, "demonstrating good progress towards the five- to 10-day medium-term target". 

The figures were contained in an interim statement by the firm. It will release its audited figures next month (December 11).

The statement added that the firm grew its international business by about 29% in the six months ending October 31. Meanwhile, its 'connected services' offering expanded by 18% in the six months to October 31.

"This growth was weighted towards the insurance division and the litigation practice group within commercial services, reflecting DWF's strong counter-cyclical offering," the statement added. 

In the six-month period, the firm also increased its net partner headcount by 20.

Firm CEO Andrew Leaitherland said the firm had seen a "number of important milestones" as it "continues to deliver on our IPO promises" .

He marked out the firm's recent scalp of BT's law arm as "demonstrating the progress of our managed services platform".

He continued: "Going forward, we will continue to supplement this organic activity with selective M&A, with our associations and broad market reach providing a strong pipeline of opportunities."