Listed firm DWF recorded £22.3m in profit before tax last year – following a £30.6m pre-tax loss the previous year – off the back of a 4% rise in revenue.

The firm posted revenues of £416.1m in the year to 30 April 2022, with net revenue per partner increasing by 6% to £975,000, as part of its ‘strongest results’ since it floated on the stock market in 2019.

DWF Group plc saw adjusted profit before tax jump by 21% to £41.4m, which it said reflects ‘the sustainability of top line growth, gross margin improvement and cost control demonstrated over the previous three reporting periods’. Net debt increased by 19% to £71.8m. The firm declared a final dividend of 3.25p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 4.75p, up from 4.50p the previous year.

Chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles said: ‘Despite the prospect of challenging macro-economic conditions, we remain confident in our medium-term guidance. This confidence is supported by the defensive nature of the group’s revenue being weighted towards litigation and the recurring revenue base in insurance, which has always protected the group both from artificial peaks in growth and hedges against a slowdown in transactional activity.

‘Similarly, we are confident that our balanced approach of competitive reward, including our unique ability to offer share awards, combined with a more progressive working environment will position us favourably in the “war for talent”.’

DWF shares have lost 17% of their value so far this year. 

Elsewhere, City firm Bird & Bird saw revenue increase by almost 10% to £445.6m which pushed profit per equity partner to €767k (£653,000), an 11% jump. It also had net cash of €1.6m (£1.36m) at the end of April, having recorded net debt of €10.4m (£8.85m) in the previous year.

The firm recently announced that it will make a one-off payment of £1,000 to all staff on an annual salary of less than £50,000 to help with the cost of living.