Withers posts 64 per cent profit rise on back of static turnover
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Withers has reported a 64 per cent rise in profitability for the 2009-10 financial year while turnover slid slightly to £92.7m.
Margaret Robertson
Net profit at the firm rose 64 per cent from £13.6m in 2008-09 to £27.3m, while turnover fell 0.6 per cent from £93.3m to £92.7m. The firm’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) figure rose by 31 per cent from £273,000 to £357,000.
Managing partner Margaret Robertson said profits were underpinned by a resurgence in private client work.
She said: “Profit is up significantly, which is encouraging. We’ve done the same amount of work with fewer people and the mix of work has changed.
“Last year there was a drop off in wealth planning work for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, that’s starting to come back.”
The firm’s private client practice, which comprises both family work and an ultra-high-net-worth practice, contributed 57.9 per cent of the firm’s turnover, the equivalent of £53.67m. Robertson said a renewed confidence in the economy meant that the firm’s wealth planning practice had seen an increase in activity.
At the beginning of the financial year Withers became the first onshore UK firm to open in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Initially this was intended to be a dispute resolution hub, but the firm now plans to expand its offering to include corporate, banking and finance transactions, funds and regulatory work (31 May 2009).
Readers' comments (4)
IHateBPP | 14-Jul-2010 4:13 pm
"We’ve done the same amount of work with fewer people"
Says it all really.
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Anonymous | 14-Jul-2010 4:55 pm
More honest than most firms though.
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Why waste a good recession | 14-Jul-2010 6:08 pm
So costs fell from £80m to £65m - i.e. by about 20%. The main element of cost is salaries ... enough said really.
The 2008 cost figure will include the one-off redundancy costs and the 2009 figure will see the benefit of reduced levels of staff.
As all firms have done the motto has been - why waste a good recession to exit a number of under-performers as its easier to do it by way of redundancy than performance management.
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Anonymous | 15-Jul-2010 10:28 am
Withers has reported a 64 per cent rise in profitability for the 2009-10 financial year while turnover slid slightly to £92.7m
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Truly despicable and utterly without humanity or care for staff. I would really like to know why this type of behaviour is not both illegal and completely socially unacceptable, as it is in Germany.
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