Baker & McKenzie announces global revenues of $2.43 billion 

• Revenues up 2.2%
• Total productivity hits an all time high – up 5%
• Record number of partner promotions  – over 40% are women
• Good growth expected in Fiscal Year 2016

Baker & McKenzie, the world’s premier global law firm, has announced global revenues for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2015 (FY15) of $2.43 billion. Based on like-for-like exchange rates, the Firm’s total global revenues were up 2% compared to the previous financial year. In US dollar terms this translates into a modest decline of 4%, highlighting the exceptional appreciation of the US dollar against most other currencies in the period.

Profits per Equity Partner at $1.25 million in like-for- like exchange rate terms or $1.14 million reported in dollars were also impacted by major investments the Firm made in FY15, the strength of the US dollar and by an expected, one-off delay in billing and collecting across the Firm as a result of the conversion of the Firm’s global technology platform to a single integrated system.

Baker & McKenzie Chairman Eduardo Leite says, “Fiscal Year 2015 was a successful and important year of investment for Baker & McKenzie. We have continued to lead the legal profession in terms of innovation while our 12,000 people have been busier than ever with total productivity up 5% to an all time high and stronger client relationships around the world, highlighted by 48 major client panel appointments.”

Leite continues, “During the past fiscal year we invested in opening offices in Brisbane and Jeddah, a new Global Services Center in Belfast and our unique Joint Operation in Shanghai, allowing us to practice both international and Chinese law. And last month we promoted 83 partners, over 40% of whom are women, a record for any law firm. We have also invested substantially in our future by implementing a single powerful new global financial and management information system, SAP,  which will allow us to serve our clients better and more efficiently.

Our increased activity and investments will be reflected in a strong fiscal year 2016. In the meantime, our year end financials for 2015 were impacted by three main factors:

First, we are one of the most geographically diverse professional services firms in the world, collecting revenues in more than 35 different currencies. This diversification means that after converting revenues for reporting purposes into US dollars, we have been significantly affected by the appreciation of the US dollar and the devaluation of many currencies around the globe.

Second, the migration to a new global financial system in the second half of our financial year caused an expected one-time delay to our billing and collection cycle — we anticipate the vast majority of that inventory to convert into revenue during FY16.

Third, for many professional services firms the effect of this delay would be negligible as they account on an accrual basis (i.e. recognizing revenue when the work is billed). We maintain our books on a cash basis and so there has been a short-term impact on our reported revenues for the second half of FY15.

Source: Baker & McKenzie 

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