Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer today reported an 11% fall in turnover as it became the final magic circle firm to unveil its annual financial results.

Revenues at the firm fell to £1.14bn in 2009/10 from £1.29bn in 2008/09, while average profits per equity partner (PEP) fell by 2.6% to £1.41m from £1.44m over the same period.

This means that Clifford Chance retakes its spot as the largest firm in the UK by revenues (£1.197bn in 2009/10), with Linklaters (£1.18bn), Freshfields, and Allen & Overy (£1.05bn) making up the rest of the billion-pound club. All firms that reported billion-plus revenues last year announced revenue falls this year.

In terms of PEP, Freshfields was ahead of Linklaters (£1.2m in 2009/10), Allen & Overy (£1.1m) and Clifford Chance (£933,000).

Freshfields chief executive Ted Burke said: ‘Like many other businesses, we have seen a downward trend in our financial results over the past year but, given the very difficult markets and ongoing economic uncertainty, the results are relatively healthy. This level of performance during challenging times is a real credit to the efforts of our people, their focus on helping our clients, and the balance among our practice areas and sectors.’