Scots firms enjoy boom year – except Tods Murray
Tods Murray" />Scottish firms enjoyed a strong performance in the last financial year, with the bulk of those that have posted results showing marked growth in revenue and profitability.
The exception is Tods Murray, which saw more than £2m wiped off its net profit over the course of the year, while revenue fell by 7 per cent.
Last year the firm attracted a revenue of £22.5m and posted a net profit of £8.6m, while this year the figures dropped to £20.9m and £6.1m respectively. In profit terms, this represents a drop of 29 per cent.
The firm’s largest practice group is property – the department employs 17 of the firm’s 44 partners and accounts for 40 per cent of revenue. The second-largest practice group is finance, followed by corporate and litigation.
Tods Murray executive partner David Dunsire did not return calls for comment.
Elsewhere, ;Scottish headquartered firm Maclay Murray & Spens, which is still finalising its profit figure for the year, saw a 12.5 per cent increase in revenue to £61.1m.
Chairman Philip Skerritt said the Aberdeen office in particular had had a strong year, with the base’s oil and gas practice proving particularly robust.
The firm’s Edinburgh, Glasgow and London offices each contribute around 30 per cent of revenue, with Aberdeen accounting for the remainder.
Skerritt said: “Across all the firm we’ve been doing well. Despite the credit crunch we had a very successful time in banking, and corporate’s also been strong.”
Edinburgh and Glasgow firm Morton Fraser also had a strong year, with revenue up by 14.5 per cent to £15.8m and average profit per equity partner (PEP) increasing by 13 per cent to £190,000.
Aberdeen’s Ledingham Chalmers, which sold its oil and gas practice to McGrigors in 2006, posted a turnover rise of 19 per cent to £9.4m and a PEP rise of 24 per cent to £173,000.
Dundas & Wilson, the largest Scottish-headquartered firm in revenue terms, saw turnover rise by 24 per cent to £74.8m. Brodies and Shepherd and Wedderburn are still finalising their financial figures, while Burness’s year runs to the end of July. McGrigors has a September year-end.
