FY2020/21: The Headlines

Global revenue:

£321m represents year on year growth of 12% (£288m in 2019/20)

• 8th year of successive income growth delivered notwithstanding the challenges of the year
• Growth across all jurisdictions 
  • UK transactional activity returned very strongly in H2; continuously high levels of activity across all contentious teams 
  • Middle East delivered another year of substantial double digit growth
  • Asia recovered from the challenging trading conditions in seen in 2019/20
  • Expanding Germany business and launch in France drive growth in continental Europe
• Litigation practice grows c. 20% year on year since 2017; Finance & Projects practice closes 11% up on prior year; 8% and 7% growth respectively for Corporate & Commercial and Real Estate
• Innovation & Legal Technology team supports ever growing number of assignments

Cash:

Following further planned investments in new offices, infrastructure and people, the closing cash position of £108m (ahead of the PY headline of £83m) is a record for AG, underpinning the firm's balance sheet strength

Profit: 

• Total distributable profit of £136m, a margin of 42%, continuing the upwards trajectory seen over the last 8 years
• PEP for the year closed at £849,000

People:

• 36 new partners – 23 laterally hired and 13 internally promoted – across key practice areas including capital markets, civil fraud, corporate governance, infrastructure, projects and energy and international arbitration
• Total bonus provision this year will be three times larger than the prior year, which itself had been a record, to reflect the positive outcome for the year

John Joyce, Managing Partner, Addleshaw Goddard, said:

"We are incredibly proud of the people we have at AG. Their combined team effort and our great clients have seen us deliver strong growth, higher profitability and further balance sheet strength in challenging times.  In the last year we have kept many investments on track and our teams have overcome tremendous disruption to support our efforts including the successful opening of our France office a year after launching in Germany and I can’t thank them enough.  We will continue to try to be as flexible and supportive as we can be in order to help people succeed and are investing heavily in bonuses this year as well in recognition of people’s efforts. 

He added:

"Looking ahead our intention is to build on the growth we have seen and the investments we have been making in order to continue delivering to clients a global business with ever more imaginative and impactful solutions."

Approximately 80% of the firm's income is generated through its six core sectors: Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail and Consumer, Real Estate and Transport. During the year the firm acted on a range of complex, high value and strategically important assignments across each sector. Highlights included:

• Alizz Islamic Bank: $8.4bn merger with Oman Arab Bank
• Asda: matters relating to its sale by Walmart Inc to a consortium of the Issa brothers and TDR Capital
• Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS): advising the founding banks on the creation of the BBRS, a new, independent, dispute resolution service that small and medium-sized UK businesses can use to resolve complaints against banks covered by the scheme
• Bondholders: $1.7bn claim against Peking University Founder Group Company Limited in relation to Keepwell backed bonds
• Cairn Energy plc: FPSO contracts for the USD 4.2 billion Sangomar field development offshore Senegal 
• DfT: successful defence against the challenge by multiple bidder consortia over their failure to secure multi £bn rail franchises (West Coast, South East and East Midlands)
• genedrive plc: £8 million placing by this AIM-listed near molecular diagnostics company, a substantial part of which funded the development of tests to detect people with active COVID-19 infections
• Multiple UK Lenders: implementation of UK Government COVID liquidity schemes (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme; Bounce Back Loan Scheme; Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme; Recovery Loan Scheme)
• Terra Firma: £110m acquisition of Kier Living
• Unitel S.A. (Angola's largest telecoms company): £300m+ claim against Isabel dos Santos' Dutch SPV, UIH B.V., to enforce loan facilities and related security  
• VW: creating with Ford, the world's largest global alliance, for the development and supply of vehicles globally