Monday 18 June 2012 by Paul Rogerson

Eversheds has returned to growth and posted record profits after three years of declining or flat revenues. Profit per equity partner climbed 14% to £632,000 in 2011/12, while income climbed 3% to £366m. Net profit grew 10%.

In a statement, the firm said all major work areas grew during the period. Financial services dispute resolution climbed 16% and capital assets by 20%, while offices in Asia and the Middle East saw growth of 26% and 100% respectively. Energy and natural resources grew 19%.

Eversheds chief executive Bryan Hughes commented: 'The business has delivered a strong set of financial results for 2011/12 which once again is a testament to much hard work and effort across all of our teams, particularly given the ongoing challenges of a tough economic climate.

'This is a return to growth for the firm following three years of declining or flat revenues, which is very encouraging and through continued focus on managing the margins it is pleasing to see this growth cascade down to the bottomline. While we are targeting top-line growth again, we would not anticipate a significant increase in profitability and PEP this year as we see now as the time to up the scale of investment, particularly internationally and we also expect to increase the number of equity partners in the business, both through promotions and lateral hires.'