Another year of very substantial progress, financially and operationally

Double digit revenue growth, record profitability and even stronger cash position whilst continuing to invest heavily in priority sectors, people and global infrastructure resulting in panel gains, new mandates, additional market share and higher levels of activity. Opening in Germany, our 12th office, creates new opportunities in Europe.

FY2018/19: The Headlines

We continue to perform very strongly; record revenue and profit underpinned by even greater cash reserves 

• Global revenue of £275.4m; highest on record and 14% up year on year (£242m in 2017/18)
  • 2nd consecutive year of double digit income growth 
  • Year on year growth in every jurisdiction. Income delivered in International  offices rose by nearly 25%
  • Key sectors (Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Health & Life Sciences, Retail & Consumer, Transport) contributed 60% of revenue
  • Every office grew in both income and headcount
• Profit, for the first time ever, exceeded £100m which is a 16% increase on 2017/18
  • The highest PEP on record at £727k, a 12% increase
  • Another year of double digit profit growth
• Cash reserves of £59m are an improvement of £25m even after ongoing investments in people and global infrastructure
• Progress since 2013/14:
  • Key KPIs set in 2014 beaten a year ahead of plan
  • 61% income growth
  • PEP growth of 89%
  • 50% + more Partners
  • £90m cash improvement
  • 60% increase in staff bonuses

John Joyce, Managing Partner, Addleshaw Goddard said:

"Another very strong year – financially and operationally. Organic revenue growth of 14 per cent combined with a 37 per cent profit margin and our second consecutive year of double digit growth shows the resilience, strength and ambition across our business with all divisions, every office and every jurisdiction outperforming plan. 

"We have now exceeded the KPIs we set ourselves in 2014, and seeing great progress in key markets, particularly in the City where last year we advised 40 per cent of all FTSE100 listed PropCo's and on nearly a quarter of all UK public takeover bids. After five years of growth we are 60 per cent bigger than in 2013/14, and last year delivered record levels of profit whilst continuing to invest substantially in our operations and client teams across the firm - in London, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. 

"And we have continued to invest heavily in the wellbeing of our people, most notably the Mindful Business Charter in collaboration with Barclays and others to tackle and reduce avoidable stress in ways of working within the legal sector."

Throughout the year, not including the five new partners who joined the firm in Germany, we have across England, Scotland, Asia and the GCC, added 20+ new partners, both laterally hired and internally promoted, including:

• Bob Charlton, Head of Asia, followed by (in Asia) Ronald Sum (Head of Litigation), Ton Van de Bosch (corporate and Head of Singapore), Lance Jiang (Corporate); 
• In London, Peter Critchen (Banking), Rory Connor (Energy), James Dawson (Corporate) David Pygott (Global Investigations), Steven Francis (Fin Reg), and Martin Griffiths (Tax) and David McEwing (energy) in Leeds and Aberdeen respectively. 

Headlines include:

• UK Takeovers: 20% of all completed UK public takeover bids in 2018, including advising on the £642m hostile bid by DNO for Faroe Petroleum – the largest AIM-quoted company takeover in 2018
• UK Private Equity: advising the sponsor on 24 per cent of all deals done by top 10 PE investors between 2015-2018
• Hong Kong ECM: 20+ IPOs (from 2015 to 2019) ranking AG in the top 5 for Hong Kong law firms acting for sponsors and underwriters 
• Volkswagen AG: advised on global alliance and contracting arrangements with Ford for supply of certain commercial and electric vehicles
• Chinese Government: relocation of its Embassy in London to the former Royal Mint Court site
• Department for Transport: new rail franchise combining the current InterCity West Coast services with the development and introduction of High Speed 2 services 
• EKFC: joint venture, led by our Dubai-based corporate team, with a US company, Crop One, relating to the construction and operation of the world's largest vertical farm
• Serco Limited: c.£640m outsourcing (by Barts Health NHS Trust) of a wide range of "soft FM" services, including cleaning, security and pest control across several hospital sites in central London
• Wyevale / Terra Firma: disposal strategy for Wyevale Garden Centres
• GSK: defence of over 100 claims brought under a Group Litigation Order in a seminal product liability case relating to GSK's antidepressant drug, Seroxat.