Revenue at Eversheds Sutherland’s international arm has edged up by 3% to £749.4m against flat profits in what it dubbed a “solid” set of financial results.

At £1.3K, profit per equity partner (PEP) inched up by 1%, while net profit was flat at £175.1m.

The results mark a slowdown in the firm’s rate of growth across these performance measures, revenue having increased by 8% last year, when net profit jumped by 17% and PEP grew 4%.

Lee Ranson, chief executive of the top 40 global firm’s international arm, said: “Against the backdrop of more challenging economic conditions in many of our international markets, we have delivered a solid set of results.  

“We have continued to invest in people, infrastructure and technology. With signs of improving activity in the transactional markets, I believe that we are well placed to continue to drive our global strategy forward.”

The results are more modest than those of several of Eversheds’ UK-based rivals, among them Herbert Smith Freehills, which posted a revenue increase of 10% for the 2023/4 financial year, and Ashurst, which recorded a 9% rise. PEP at all three firms now sits at £1.3k, HSF and Ashurst having recorded increases of 12% and 14% respectively on the previous year. 

The standout strategic highlight for Eversheds Sutherland came in July last year when its international arm struck a cooperation deal with King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM’s) China business.

The deal sees KWM China refer all outbound UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South America legal work to Eversheds’ international arm, with Eversheds sending China-based work the other way.

It also required KWM to close its six offices in the UK, Europe and Middle East, which in turn led to several of the Chinese firm’s international lawyers moving across to Eversheds, including the bulk of its London office. Those, and several other KWM hires, will have accounted for a significant proportion of the 16 partner lateral hires Eversheds’ international arm secured over the financial year.  

In May, the firm said it would close its Berlin office following a strategic review of its German business. The closure left the firm with German bases in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.

Meanwhile, global revenue for the 2023 calendar year at Eversheds Sutherland, which was forged in 2017 when the UK’s Eversheds merged with Atlanta, Georgia-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, stood at $1.476bn, up by %1.5 on the previous year.