2Birds reports double-digit euro growth at half-year stage
Bird & Bird has reported double-digit growth in its half-year revenue figure when reported in euros.
David Kerr
The international TMT firm claims to do all its accounting in the single European currency and said that the figures for the first six months of the financial year 2012/13 are 12 per cent up on the same period in the previous financial year.
After the fluctuation in currency is taken into account, that represents a more modest rise of around two per cent in sterling.
The increase in turnover follows on from Bird & Bird’s 10 per cent top-line growth for the full 2011/12 year, from £214.6m to £235m. Average profit per equity partner improved inline with that figure, with net profit up 8 per cent (6 August 2012)
The firm’s UK200 figures represented “outstanding growth” in every area of business, according to CEO David Kerr.
The Lawyer reported last week that the firm is gearing up for a more aggressive international strategy, starting with a merger with its Danish best friend Bender von Haller Dragsted in the New Year (22 November 2012).
Today, Kerr said: “The reason for reporting in euros is that we have a lot of European revenue and it bests suits the firm.
“In terms of practice areas, contentious and transactional have gone up. That’s slightly surprising in the current market.
“The figures we’ve got show we’re stronger in Asia and in Europe we’ve also seen country-by-country growth in each of the offices. That’s a bit surprising as we were expecting a bit more of a mixed picture.
“We’re hoping that will continue. Everyone’s nervous about the state of the market, economically it’s tough and we recognise that difficulty. But we’re in a good position to maintain that growth with a bit of luck and a fair wind.”
Kerr confirmed that the firm is looking at a further push internationally. He said he was “open-minded” about whether that was through recruitment or acquisition.
He sad: “Our international expansion has always been driven by the need to be in those markets for our clients, but it’s certainly true we’re wanting to make a further push, nothing more than that. But it’s exciting news for the future.
“It’s more important to verify which markets we want to be in and there’s a lot of work going into that.”
