Revenues down 11 per cent at White & Case
White & Case has posted an 11 per cent drop in total revenue for the 2009 financial year while average profit per equity partner (PEP) has remained flat.
Total turnover for the 2009 financial year stood at $1.307bn (£820m), an 11 per cent drop on 2008’s $1.467bn. The firm pointed to currency fluctuations across the 36 countries in which it operates as having a material impact on the revenue drop.
“Up to 50 per cent of this reduction was due to currency fluctuations,” said a spokesman.
In contrast, White & Case’s PEP was flat at $1.595m, a marginal rise of 0.3 per cent from 2008’s $1.59m.
“We had a very strong second six months of the year, which helped us post solid results,” said London office head Oliver Brettle (pictured).
The firm’s results announcement coincides with a series of partner departures from White & Case to rival Latham & Watkins.
Last week Latham poached a four-partner team of London bank finance and capital markets partners including Chris Kandel, the former co-head of White & Case’s London bank finance group (29 January 2010).
Yesterday another eight partners, including Craig Nethercott and Glen Ireland in London, resigned to join Latham (1 February 2010).
Readers' comments (4)
Mr Grumpy | 2-Feb-2010 2:29 pm
Who cares?
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Anonymous | 2-Feb-2010 5:28 pm
Amazing that having presided over a small and unremarkable employment department that struggled to retain associates, Brettle (pictured above) was made head of the London Office. Now he seems intent on making the entie London Office small and unremakable. This latest round of departures will surely leave him particularly red-faced.
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Maurice Goetz | 2-Feb-2010 5:54 pm
;)
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Analyst | 6-Feb-2010 3:01 pm
Impressive profitability... or is it? To keep PEP flat with a 11% decline in revenues, you need both an 11% cut in costs and an 11% cut in the number of equity partners. This means fewer equity partners and salaried partners getting paid considerably less. Or, to put it another way, a small group of (generally more senior) partners that are paid very well and have had no reduction in compensation, while the rank and file took a significant compensation hit. Money and politics are usually the reason behind significant departures.
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