Hill Dickinson reports 6% dip in income
LAW firm Hill Dickinson has reported a 6.5% fall in fee income to £104.4m, but says it plans to hit £150m by 2017.
The firm, which has offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Monaco and Greece, said the fall in turnover in the year to the end of May was “in line with forecasts” and was due to two key factors – the sale of its Chester office to Knights and changes in the insurance fraud market.
The firm said these accounted for £7m of income. Challenges in the insurance market persist in the current financial year though, and in May the firm said was looking to cut 30 jobs in the department across London, Liverpool and Manchester. This followed similar restructuring in 2014 and 2013.
Net profit at the firm also decreased by 9.6% from £17.1m in 2013/14 to £15.5m last year. The result meant that the firm’s profit per equity partner dropped 4% from £272,000 to £261,000 last year.
In a statement the firm said: “Performance in the other parts of the business remains strong.
Client activity in the firm’s key specialist sectors, including health, property and construction, retail, leisure, transport and logistics, marine and insurance remained strong while at the same time the firm experienced increased corporate transactions, property deals and dispute work among its client base generally.”
Managing partner, Peter Jackson, said: “Despite the difficulties within a certain number of our core markets, we are confident of making progress to towards our target of becoming a £150m law firm by 2017, focusing on our core sector strengths and working with our clients to deliver that growth, alongside our planned acquisition strategy.”
