Dentons has announced that revenue for its UK, Middle East and Africa region has grown by 7 per cent, from £155m to £165m during the 2015/16 financial year.
The results mirror a similar rise in turnover during the previous year, which saw revenue increase by 6 per cent from £146.3m in 2013/14.
The growth was driven by an increase in revenues from the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, which has seen a surge in the amount of cross border work it carries out. This has included advising Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas on its acquisition of Statoil’s 15.5 per cent interest in the Shah Deniz gas field.
Net profit for the region increased 15 per cent last year, from £34m to £39m. The increase led to average profit per equity partner jumping from £502,000 during the previous year to £530,000, an increase of 6 per cent.
Dentons has also significantly improved its net cash position in the last three years. During 2013/14 it carried £7.3m of net debt. This then improved to a net cash position of £4.2m in 2014/15 but has now increased to £13.2m.
Over the last year Dentons has won a number of high profile panel appointments. In March it won a place on car rental company Avis’ inaugural panel. The firm has also won coveted spots on panels for John Lewis, Network Rail, Nokia and Royal Mail.
Dentons continued to grow its business last year through a number of acquisitions and mergers. The latest saw the firm hire a 75-strong team from Matthew Arnold & Baldwin’s banking and litigation team. The team comprised of 11 partners and 64 fee-earners and eventually led to the Watford-based firm closing its doors.
Dentons’ rapid expansion has seen it go from a 275-fee-earner firm to the largest law firm in the world. In May The Lawyer spoke to a number of leading partners in the industry, including Dentons chairman Joe Andrew, about how sustainable such an aggressive expansion strategy could be in the long term.