Recruitment up as fee-sharer Keystone records profit leap

Shareholders in listed fee-sharing firm Keystone Law are in line for an increased payout after a bullish trading year.

Keystone announced to the London Stock Exchange that it will pay a final dividend of 24.7p per share, up from 20.2p in 2025.

This comes on the back of a full year ended 31 January in which pre-tax profit rose 26% to £14.7m and income by 18% to £115m.

The firm, in which lawyers keep up to 75% of the fees they bring in, said the recruitment environment for adding to its roster was ‘buoyant’.

In total, 294 qualified new applicants applied to the firm, compared to 283 the year before. Of these, 68 joined following a 31% increase in offers accepted. Keystone said client demand and recruitment activity have remained positive in the first three months of this financial year.

The firm overhauled its brand in 2025 and has carried out a marketing drive this year, as well as rolling out AI initiatives including secure versions of ChatGPT and Claude.

James Knight, chief executive, said: ‘We delivered another excellent year for Keystone, with strong operational and financial momentum driven by sustained client demand and continued growth in lawyer numbers.

‘Our brand refresh, which more accurately reflects the evolution of Keystone, underscores our ambition and further reinforces our position as the premier tech-enabled platform law firm. In addition, the ongoing investment in IT infrastructure and AI capabilities continues to differentiate our highly scalable model, underpinning both our strong balance sheet and progressive dividend policy.’

Keystone’s share price had dropped in the last eight months from a peak of 700p per share in October to 452.5p last month. Yesterday’s final results announcement saw it climb 8% to 514p.

The Investors’ Chronicle described the company’s yield as ‘too good to ignore’, adding that the ‘demonstrable quality of the law group’s practitioners supports the investment case’.