Law firm unveils double-digit growth in first full-year results since float

Listed law firm Gordon Dadds announced strong revenue and profit growth today in its first results since going public last year.

In its results for the year ended 31 March 2018 the firm grew revenue by 25.3 per cent to £31.24m and operating profit by 19.1 per cent to £8.8m.

Speaking to City A.M. Gordon Dadds chief executive Adrian Biles said he was very happy with the results.

“We have done all the things we said we would do when we listed but we have been slightly more successful than we thought we would be during the period.”

The firm, which aims to improve profitability by acquiring smaller firms and integrating them onto its platform, made five acquisitions in the course of the year with aggregated revenues of £14m.

“The acquisitions we have made have proved our concept. We said we knew how to do them and integrate them and the results demonstrate that we do know how to take them on,” Biles said.

The firm has a pipeline of further potential acquisitions both in the UK and overseas, Biles said.

“We are talking to firms with a presence in a number of different jurisdictions, we see the emerging markets, Asia and the Middle East and as very attractive potential sources of revenue in the future.”

Biles said the firm was also on the look out for a “transformative” merger to help grow revenue significantly.

“Its quite possible we will be able to do a transformative deal at some point in the future. It’s a question of circumstances and opportunity really,” he said.

Gordon Dadds float in August 2017 made it just the third UK law firm to go public – it has since been joined on the public markets by Rosenblatt which listed in May and Knights which floated yesterday raising £50m..

“Its very encouraging that there is investor demand at the level for things like Knights in our sector,” Biles said.

He said he hoped and expected to see more law firms float to increase analyst and investor interest in the sector.

“For the subsector of legal and professional services as part of business services to be a proper subsector it probably needs a few more listings,” he said.

Law firm DWF confirmed earlier this month that it is examining a float while both Keoghs and Fieldfisher have been tipped as possible candidates for listings.

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