Dentons’ 6 per cent turnover hike outstripped by City rivals’

Denton Wilde Sapte’s financial results revealed a sluggish performance compared with its large City peers', as revenue grew by a disappointing 6 per cent to £164.4m.

Last year’s restructuring of the financial institutions
practice failed to turn around the fate of the underperforming department, which also posted around 6 per cent growth.

Dentons chief executive officer Howard Morris said: “That we saw growth at all would set us aside from other firms’ banking teams.”

A 16 per cent growth in revenues across Dentons’ international offices, which accounted for a quarter of total revenue, helped profit per equity partner (PEP) grow by 12 per cent to £470,000, ahead of the £450,000 budget.

This was in contrast to the performance of silver circle firm Herbert Smith, where a strong year for its finance and litigation departments saw total revenue climb by 25 per cent to £418m and PEP push past £1m.

Norton Rose has posted the highest rate of growth so far, with revenue boosted by 27 per cent to £297m, driven by a wave of AIM flotations in the corporate department.

Ashurst posted 17 per cent growth to £323m and Simmons & Simmons grew by 16 per cent and is expected to break through the £600,000 PEP barrier. Lovells’ revenue growth was slower, rising by 13 per cent to £479m.

For more on the financial results at all the top firms as they come in, see our Top of the PEPs 2008 blog here