Profit per equity partner rose 16% at Clifford Chance in 2013/14 to £1.14m, while overall partnership profits surged 14% to £459m, the magic circle firm has announced.

Revenues increased 7% to £1.36bn for the year ended 30 April – the highest ever reported by Clifford Chance. Last year profits fell 6% to £404m, which the firm described as ‘disappointing’, while turnover dropped 2% to £1.27bn.

Matthew Layton, managing partner (pictured, right, with his predecessor David Childs), said the results reflect ‘the uptick in transactional markets we saw starting in the US over a year ago, and which has since extended to Europe and Asia Pacific’.

Sales in continental Europe contributed 37% of the firm’s overall revenue (£503m), followed by 35% from the UK (£460m), 14% from Asia Pacific (£195m), 11% from the Americas (£152m) and 3% from the Middle East (£40m).

Layton said international markets would remain a key focus for the firm. 

He added: ‘Market and corporate confidence is just part of the picture; we are also benefiting from our long-term strategy of investment in the geographies and areas of expertise that are most important to our clients. These more recent additions to the firm’s offer are performing well, alongside our more established practices.
 There is a shared sense of positive momentum around the firm.  

‘The market-shaping work undertaken by our teams globally, demonstrates that we are building a firm that is really driven by - and answers to - client needs. We’re ambitious for what we want to achieve and we’re far from being complacent. 

‘The fundamental shifts in the global business environment have huge implications for many of our clients, for the global legal industry and for us. I’m absolutely determined that we are not only going to stay at the forefront of the leading international firms, but that we will set the standard for the next phase of the industry’s development.’

In January 2014, Clifford Chance became the first international firm to establish a joint Saudi- and foreign-owned firm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

In 2013/14 the firm also opened a new operation in Indonesia.