Regional powerhouse Knights today revealed double-digit increases in income and core profits, reaffirming its commitment to remaining a stockmarket-listed company.
Unveiling half-year results, the company announced an interim dividend of 1.94p per share – up by 10% - for the period ended 31 October 2025.
Underlying income rose by 30% to £103.2m in the first half, with a return to organic growth of about 3%. Underlying profit before tax climbed 12.5% to £16.4m.
The model of regular acquisitions to build scale has come at a cost, however. Taking into account one-off acquisition costs, reported pre-tax profit fell from £9m in 1H24 to £2.4m.
Knights routinely dispenses with most support staff at the firms it acquires. In the first half of 2025/26 it incurred redundancy costs of £1.7m, compared with £442,000 in the same period in 2024-25. Essex-based Birkett Long and south-east firm Rix & Kay Solicitors were both bought during the period, with a deal to purchase IBB Law completed in March 2025.
David Beech, chief executive of Knights, said: ‘The first half has been a period of significant progress for Knights, as we firmly returned the group to organic growth, while continuing to scale the platform we have developed over many years. We are attracting top talent, with ambitious, high-calibre lawyers recognising and choosing our corporate structure, collaborative culture and the opportunity we provide to develop within a firm of both national scale and local reach. We have also significantly expanded our presence in the South East, and Wales, whilst effectively integrating prior period acquisitions including our largest to date.’
Net debt stood at £75.2m at the end of the half-year period, up from £50.1m in October 2024. The company previously extended an existing £100m revolving credit facility for a further year to November 2028.
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Knights said this facility gives it the platform for further acquisitions, although it is understood there will be no further activity on this front until this summer.
Beech highlighted a ‘substantial’ reduction in fee-earner churn, down from 20% to 9%. This figure is calculated by taking the number of people leaving in the year as a percentage of the average total number. It excludes those leaving acquired firms within the first year of an acquisition.
Knights, which does not operate from London or internationally, lauded its ability to attract ambitious, high-calibre professionals. In the first half, 46 senior fee-earners either joined the business or are scheduled to start shortly. Beech told the Gazette: ‘We are definitely seeing a trend where people are being asked to return to offices in London and don’t want to do the commute or get the tube. We are neatly positioned around London and can offer working for a premium firm with big clients.’
He added that the model of being one of the few law firms listed on the London Stock Exchange is still preferable to relying on private equity investment, as some competitors have done.
‘[Each funding model] has their pluses and minuses. The important thing is the separation of management and ownership from the partnership model and to let the partners be the professionals and lawyers they are trained to be. The great thing about being listed is we have not got any short-termism and don’t have to work to an exit.’
Knights Group Holdings PLC’s share price rose by 1.1% to 188p on today’s announcement. A year ago, the shares were trading at 121p.
