Profits down and debt up for pre-merger Finers Stephens Innocent

That figure is slightly down on the previous 12 months’ profit figure of £5.8m and the firm’s final turnover figure of £17m is less than the £17.6m previously estimated.

FSI’s net debt rose slightly to £1.9m from £1.7m the year before.

The accounts, filed last week, show that total staff costs have held steady at £5.7m, with a decrease in support staff from 36 in 2010/11 to 31 in 2011/12 and an increase in lawyers from 65 to 77 over the same period.

The firm is merging with £28m Howard Kennedy, which recently made nine support staff redundant (14 January 2013), on 1 February. The £45m tie-up, led by Howard Kennedy CEO Mark Dembovsky and FSI managing partner Paul Millett, brings together two West End firms and three offices.

FSI’s two open-plan bases in Great Portland Street cost the firm £1.4m in 2011/12. As part of the merger, they will be maintained until at least 2014, when the lease is up (8 August 2012).

The LLP accounts also showed that the highest earning partner received £350,000 in 2011/12 – up from £311,000 in 2010/11.