Ashurst announces financial results for year ended 30 April 2019

• Revenue of £641 million - an increase of 14% (£564 million in 2018)

• Average profit per equity partner of £972,000 - an increase of 31% (£743,000 in 2018)

Paul Jenkins, Global Managing Partner of Ashurst, said:

"In the last financial year, the firm has delivered a strong level of performance, with growth across all regions and divisions. We have continued to place significant emphasis on achieving sustained revenue and profit growth which is evident from our pleasing results. We have maintained a strategic focus on clients and sectors, as well as remaining disciplined in driving a collaborative and high performance culture.

APAC has performed very well, with Australia delivering double digit revenue growth and China and Hong Kong both showing an excellent trajectory of growth. The Middle East, US and Continental Europe have also delivered very strong results and our newly opened office in Luxembourg is securing some significant opportunities. In London, we have seen very good levels of activity in the Corporate, Projects and Real Estate practices. And our recent London office move to the iconic Fruit and Wool Exchange in Spitalfields provides a modern and flexible working environment for the benefit of our people and clients. 

With all of our four divisions achieving very robust growth, we have seen standout performance globally in Projects & Real Estate and in Strategic Advisory. Our Finance, Funds and Restructuring division has delivered double digit growth, as has our Corporate practice globally, with notable increases in Corporate in France, Asia and the Middle East.

Our strategy of focusing on five key sectors has also been very successful in driving revenue. In the last financial year, we have seen particularly strong performance in infrastructure, energy & resources and real estate globally.

The transformation in the legal services market is accelerating and ensuring that we adapt our delivery model to provide the best client service remains a high priority. We have seen a notable increase in the volume of business performed by our Ashurst Advance platform and we continued to broaden our offering with a collaboration with Cognia Law. We also expanded our platform in launching Ashurst Digital Ventures to provide technology-led solutions to clients and opened our legal and business services delivery centre in Brisbane. 

We have maintained a sustained focus on our diversity and inclusion initiatives, including adopting additional stretch D&I targets through to 2022. There is more to do and we remain fully committed to delivering on our recently launched D&I Action Plan.

Our sustained focus in the last year has delivered for the firm, our people and our clients. We have entered FY20 with positive momentum, a great belief in the strategic direction of the firm and determination to deliver on our current and future priorities."

Representative mandates:

• Goldman Sachs on the launch of its digital-first retail banking platform, Marcus.
• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on the US$2.7 billion Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal One Redevelopment project.
• ANZ on the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
• The Dubai Government on the US$3.4 billion 950MW DEWA Phase IV project which comprises a mix of solar tower, solar CSP and PV - the first solar tower project in the Middle East and the largest solar thermal project in the world.
• Facebook on the establishment of a number of joint ventures with other technology and telecoms giants to build, own and operate several trans-Asia telecoms backbone networks.
• European Investment Bank on the financing for Open Fiber - the first Italian fiber optic ultra-broadband network.
• Advising on the £1.4 billion takeover of John Laing Infrastructure Fund Limited by a consortium jointly-led by Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management.
• Johnston Press on its pre-packaged administration sale to JPIMedia, a newly incorporated group owned by the group's major bond holders.
• Lenders on the €995 million financing for the acquisition of Terra Firma's solar portfolio RTR by Italian infrastructure investor F2i. 
• Nine Entertainment on the acquisition of Fairfax Media Limited - the largest media consolidation that has occurred in Australia since the Australian Federal Government reform in 2017.
• Oxford Properties on its A$3.35 billion acquisition of Investa.
• Phoenix Energy on all aspects of the development and project financing of the Kwinana waste to energy facility - Australia's first large scale waste to energy project.
• PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) on the landmark US$3.85 billion acquisition of a majority interest in the Grasberg mine from foreign mining companies Freeport-McMoRan and Rio Tinto.
• Santander in relation to the Business Banking Switch Scheme.