Nabarro has posted revenue up 2 per cent in the first six months of 2016/17 to £57.5m.
The firm, which will merge with CMS Cameron McKenna and Olswang next May, increased turnover by 3.5 per cent in the last full financial year to £130.4m.
Nabarro’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) currently stands at £586,000 while net profit is £42.7m.
The firm has the highest profit margin of the trio at 32.7 per cent. CMS recently embarked on a profitability drive ahead of the combination to boost its 31.4 per cent margin closer to Nabarro’s.
A statement from Nabarro attributed growth at the half-year mark to disputes and business advisory work, plus a number of real estate mandates, adding “the real estate market has continued to flourish despite the outcome of the Brexit vote”.
Recent property deals Nabarro has worked on include: acting for Chinese investor KCH on its£271m acquisition of WeWork’s Moor Place (led by partner Clare Thomas); advising longstanding client Great Portland Estates on the £276m sale of 73-89 Oxford Street (led by partner Caroline Maude); acting for Quercus on its takeover of a £250m care home portfolio (led by partner Candice Blackwood); and advising Hammerson on the development and opening of its £165m Victoria Gate complex in Leeds (led by partner James Madden).
It also recently advised on the real estate aspects of CBRE’s UK property fund merger with ESPS to create a £1.74bn fund.
Senior partner Ciaran Carvalho said: “This is a good performance by Nabarro ahead of our combination next year which will open up new opportunities for our clients.
“Our pipeline of work suggests we should be confident about the second half of the year. We are also confident that the pace, planning and precision of the integration process will ensure the combination with CMS and Olswang on 1 May 2017 will deliver more than the sum of its parts for our people, our clients and the new firm.”
Nabarro’s LLP accounts revealed last month the firm’s pensions deficit had shrunk by more than half, from £31.9m to £12.2m in 2015/16. The firm has struggled to bring down its deficit in the past and the large sum has resulted in failed merger talks in recent years.
Nabarro made 10 lateral hires across its offices in Dubai, London, Manchester and Singapore in the last financial year. The firm also increased the number of promotions in the last round, making up five lawyers to its partnership. The new partners were promoted to the firm’s dispute resolution, real estate, and tax practices.
At the same time as head of real estate Ciaran Carvalho was elected senior partner Nabarro also invested in a “programme of change” – the culmination of which will be its three-way merger next year.
