Listed law firm Knights reported double-digit profit growth over the last final year while its revenue rose by nearly £8m.
On Monday the firm said its full year revenue for the year would be around £150m, up six per cent compared to the prior year (FY23: £142.1m). While underlying profit before tax is expected to be at least £25m, a 16 per cent increase on the previous year (£21.6m).
Over the last financial year, Knights‘ debtor days as of 30 April 2024 were 28 days, which was down to 30 days for the previous year. Debtor days mean the length of time it takes for a business to get paid by its client.
The legal business’s net debt did rise as of 30 April 2024 and is expected to be around £35.2m (FY23: £29.2m). The group stated the reason for using over £11m cash paid in relation to acquisitions, including £2.5m for the joint venture with Manchester-based sell-side advisory Convex Corporate Finance.
Despite the higher debts, the firm said it had significant headroom within its £70m revolving credit facility.
In the first half of the financial year, Knights built out its presence in the North of England with acquisitions in Newcastle and Carlisle, both of which the group said “are integrating and performing well”.
Knights added that after strengthening its operational platform in the financial year, it is now positioned well to consider selective acquisitions from “its healthy pipeline of opportunities”.
Knights presence throughout England has grown rapidly in recent years after completing around 23 acquisitions since 2018.
Knights stated that it will provide a further update on trading with its full year results announcement in July.
Commenting on the results, David Beech, CEO of Knights, said: “Our people have delivered a good performance during the year. We continued to execute our growth strategy, recruiting high quality talent and driving operational improvements across the business, positioning us well to deliver further growth in FY25.”
Its shares are currently up by over 3 per cent today, trading at 146.50p per share.