Hogan Lovells' turnover flatlines in 2011

Average profit per equity partner (PEP) grew by 2 per cent from $1.144m to $1.165m while revenue per lawyer showed a more significant increase (5 per cent), from $704,000 to $739,000.

Hogan Lovells co-CEO David Harris said he was pleased with the results, highlighting the double pressures of the difficult market conditions and the disruption and cost of post-merger integration.

“To have maintained revenue and increased PEP is a good result,” said Harris. “Our geographic and practice diversity has helped us, in the current market, play to our strengths.”

The merger had allowed Hogan Lovells to cross-sell relationships and also win places on several panels that would not have been possible pre-merger, Harris added, pointing to several wins including China Development Bank, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Vodafone.

Harris said the firm’s London office performance last year had been “very strong”, highlighting its counter-cyclical capabilities as well as some “significant deals” in corporate.

Last year the overall contribution of Hogan Lovells’ London office rose from 23 per cent to 26 per cent of firmwide revenue, or $433m. In contrast the contribution from the US side of the practice slipped from 46 per cent to 44 per cent ($733m).

“To an extent the weaker dollar and stronger pound and euro contributed to this,” added Harris.

Elsewhere, Continental Europe contributed 24 per cent of revenue ($400m) while Asia and the Middle East generated 6 per cent of billings ($99m).

The largest contributor of Hogan Lovells’ five global practice groups was corporate, which generated approximately 32 per cent of total billings ($533m).

Standout deals for the firm last year include advising ExxonMobil on the sale of its Japanese subsidiary to TonenGeneral Sekiyu for approximately $3.9bn and on its $1.75bn sale of North Sea assets to Apache North Sea; SABMiller on its $1.9bn strategic alliance with the Anadolu Group and Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii; and Northumbrian Water on its £4.7bn takeover by UK Water, one of the largest M&A deals in the UK last year.

Elsewhere litigation, arbitration and employment generated 28 per cent ($466m) of Hogan Lovells’ firmwide revenue, while regulatory, finance and IP chipped in 15 per cent ($250m), 14 per cent ($233m) and 11 per cent ($183m) respectively.

Harris highlighted the two-year financial comparison of the merged firm’s results, arguing it was a more accurate representation of the one-year performance since it avoided the effects of the combination in 2010.

On this basis total revenue growth remained flat on 2009but the figures show a 5.9 per cent increase in PEP and a 6.7 per cent growth in RPL.