Eversheds Sutherland has posted an 8% increase in revenue for its non-US operations to £730.9m in the 2022/23 financial year, against a 4% rise in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £1.29m. 

The results mark the sixth consecutive year of PEP growth for the international business since the transatlantic merger between UK firm Eversheds and Atlanta, Georgia-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan went live in 2017. 

Figures for its US arm, which has a calendar financial year, have not been disclosed. 

The latest revenue rise sees the international business keep pace with its previous financial year, when a record year for its transactional team helped it to grow turnover by 8% to £678.4m, though this year’s PEP growth is modest compared to last year when it jumped by an eye-catching 26% to hit £1.24m. 

Lee Ranson, chief executive of Eversheds Sutherland International, said the latest results were “pleasing” and had been driven by a consistently strong performance across the firm despite volatility in many of its key markets. 

“We have continued to drive our strategy forward with a focus on delivering excellence,” he said. “Key areas of investment have included technology and transformation (including client-facing technology), lateral hires, refurbishment of our property portfolio including a number of new offices and last but not least, our responsible business programme.”

He added that generative AI was central to Evershed’s investment strategy this year, including equipping the firm’s people “with the necessary knowledge and skills to place the firm at the forefront of the gen-AI revolution, both in terms of how we leverage this new technology ourselves and how we work with clients.” 

Over the course of the last year, the firm has added 35 new partners through a combination of internal promotions and lateral hires, including the hire of PwC Legal’s Germany managing partner, Steffen Schniep, last August to fulfil a “long standing ambition” to open an office in Frankfurt. 

Last summer, the firm announced a combination with Bulgarian firm Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners to expand its client coverage in Central and Eastern Europe and formed a partnership with Dublin-based boutique firm Kenny Solicitors to expand its commercial litigation and real estate coverage in Ireland.

The firm also elected Cardiff-based real estate partner Kathryn Roberts to succeed Bruce Dear as chair of the international LLP last September and, having narrowly missed its target to have 30% women partners by 2021, has set a new firm-wide target to have 35% women partners by 2027.