Clifford Chance Builds Up £100M On Balance Sheet, LLP Accounts Show
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Clifford Chance strengthened its cash position significantly during the last financial year as it also saw a rise in staff costs, according to the firm’s latest limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts.
The documents, which were filed at Companies House, show that the firm drastically improved its cash and cash at bank position in the year to April 2020, with a total equity reserve balance of £100 million, up from negative £14 million in 2018 .
Meanwhile staff costs at the firm also rose by 4.7% — or £40 million — in 2020 to reach £902 million, the document shows. The increase is largely attributed to a rise in salaries for the consolidated business, though staff and partner headcount rose by 10% over the same period.
The firm’s total cash and cash equivalents for the 2020 financial year stood at £299 million, up from £220 million in 2019 – an increase of 35%.
It comes as the firm lodged an 8% rise in operating profits to £685 million. In July, the firm reported that its revenues grew by 6% for the year, with the latest accounts showing that the firm’s total turnover stood at £1.8 billion at April 2020 – a 6.5% rise.
Meanwhile, the profit share for the firm’s top earner also remained relatively flat on the last two years at £3 million, as did year-on-year remuneration for the firm’s 13-strong leadership team at £22 million.
In the accounts, CC’s executive leadership team said that the firm has “much to be proud of: robust cash reserves, five consecutive years of record income, net profit and PEP takes a genuine team effort”.
In October, the firm had introduced a revamped distributions system which assesses the firm’s current predictions for outgoings and expected collections due to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The move came as part of a wider change for the business, according to three people at the firm, who said at the time that the firm is looking to make its cash management systems more focused on cash collection, rather than billings.