A&O opens in Jakarta after posting 10 per cent PEP rise in 2009-10

Turnover for the year fell from £1.091bn in 2008-09 to £1.051bn while PEP grew from £1m to £1.1m.

The amounts paid out to partners on the top and bottom of the firm’s equity ladder have also risen, with those on the bottom rung of the 15-year lockstep receiving a profit share of £661,000. Those at the top of the ladder, which runs from 20 to 50 points, will receive £1.652m.

Last year the spread was £538,000 to £1.345m. Profit per point has increased from £26,900 to £33,000.

A&O carried out an extensive restructuring programme during the last quarter of the 2008-09 financial year in which 450 members of staff were cut, including 47 partners 19 February 2009 http://www.thelawyer.com/ao-to-slash-partnership-in-£44m-restructuring/136814.article. Although the firm has since added a number of lateral partners, the total number of partners at 451 is still 39 less than in 2008-09. Similarly the total of 355 equity partners is down 17 from 2008-09.

While turnover fell year on year, revenue per partner grew by about £100,000 from £2.23m in 2008-09 to £2.33m in 2009-10 boosted by advice on a number of major matters including acting for the banks on Global Infrastructure Paners’ successful bid for Gatwick Airport and the creditors committee on the restructuring of Dubai World

Other income was derived from sub-letting space in the firm’s London headquarters, which generated £2m. Finance director Ian Dinwiddie said the firm had been “particularly successful in [letting] spare space to American law firms”. A&O occupies around 550,000 sq ft of the 700,000 sq ft building at One Bishops’ Square on the fringes of the City. Paul Hastings, Proskauer Rose and Akin Gump occupy most of the rest of the space.

The results come as A&O announces that it will open in Indonesia through an association with Daniel Ginting Law Firm. The one-partner office will target Islamic finance, capital markets and project finance opportunities. A&O joins a handful of international firms, including Baker & McKenzie, Herbert Smith and Norton Rose, that have a presence in Jakarta through local associations.