Manchester-headquartered international law firm DWF Group plc said on Thursday its revenue increased 15% to £167.6 million and adjusted profit before tax rose 23% to £13.4 million as it published half-year results for the period ended October 31, 2020.

DWF Group’s board has approved an interim dividend of 1.5p per share.

DWF Group CEO Nigel Knowles said: “Given the extreme impact of COVID-19 on the worldwide economy, we are pleased with the performance of the business in the first half of FY21 following the swift actions taken by the new management team.

“We are also encouraged that despite ongoing COVID related restrictions in a number of the markets in which we operate November activity levels were strong. 

“We have achieved strong revenue growth in the period thanks to the contributions of RCD and Mindcrest and a pleasing return to organic growth.

“Operationally, the decisive cost actions taken at the beginning of this financial year and a continued focus on cash management has seen a reduction in both net debt and lock-up days.

“These factors have combined to help us deliver a good profit performance with adjusted PBT in the first half of FY21 close to that achieved for the full year in FY20.

“We expect the uncertain macro environment to continue into 2021, although the positive news in relation to potential vaccines for COVID-19 allows some optimism for a more settled economy as we progress through next year.

“We therefore are increasingly confident in the prospects for the group as we look ahead to the rest of FY21 and recent client wins and panel appointments such as those for Serco and Zurich are testament to the strength of our differentiated offering.”