Australia: plan to build national network of firms will take time, says ILH
The Australian legal business consolidator Integrated Legal Holdings (ILH), one of the country’s (and world’s) two stock exchange-listed law firms, has announced a 96% increase in profits for the first half of its financial year.
Net profit after tax at the firm – which comprises three practices and an online legal document business – reached A$755,906 (£496,000), with operating revenues up 18% to A$13.6m.
Integrated Legal Holdings Limited listed in 2007, three months after Slater & Gordon went public. Its aim is consolidate the ownership of independent law firms and related businesses under one listed legal services entity.
The company has already grown through various acquisitions and its announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange made it clear that more are planned.
It said: “An opportunity exists to increase profitability by achieving increased scale at both a group and member firm level. At a group level this means securing more member firms to share the fixed overhead burden of the corporate office. And at a member firm level, this means achieving organic and acquisition growth to utilise existing premises, and to share the management and infrastructure costs that these firms now have in place.”
ILH’s plan is to build a network of 15-20 medium-sized commercial law firms, targeting the mid-sized and SME commercial market, and high net-worth individuals, where it sees no leading practice
The announcement said the delivery of this strategy “will take time”. It explained: “The company remains focused on incrementally and selectively acquiring good businesses with like-minded people and working with them towards quality and sustainable growth and improvement.”
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