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DSW Capital, owner of the Dow Schofield Watts brand, has seen its network revenue fall 12.5% to £16m during the year ended 31 March.
The company attributed this result to the continued trading challenges its licensees have experienced as a result of the SME M&A Market being subdued throughout the year.
Group revenue reached £2.3m, down from £2.7m in FY23, while adjusted EBITDA also fell to £0.6m from £1.5m the previous year.
During the year the professional services network has grown the number of fee earners, including partners, from 97 to a record of 107, an increase of 10.3% whilst the number of partners rose from 42 to 50.
In addition, the group expanded its geographical footprint and welcomed two new businesses, DSW CF Midlands and DSW CF Advisory (Cardiff) under the “Breakout Initiative”.
The company welcomed Bridgewood Financial Solutions, a corporate recovery business based in Nottingham, to the DSW Network and supported its existing Tax practice with the acquisition of STS Europe, a tax advisory business based in the North-West.
The group has also announced that Shrutisha Morris will be appointed as deputy CEO and join the board on 1 August, following the departure of Nicole Burstow who resigned in May.
DSW so far has said to have entered the new financial year “in line with expectations” and that it will focus investing on recruitment and supporting its existing licensees with improved central infrastructure.
James Dow, chief executive officer, said: “Our strategic aim remains to have a more resilient and diversified group of licensee businesses. At present, corporate finance and due diligence represents the majority of our business (68%, flat vs. the previous year). As communicated at the time of our IPO, DSW aims to scale its licence model through organic growth of existing licensees, recruitment of new licensees, investing in “Break Outs” (existing teams in larger firms) and the acquisition of licence fees.
“We are confident in the strength of our business model to continue to attract Fee Earners, and we have a strong balance sheet to support that. We remain confident that our considerable efforts to both acquire licence fees and recruit teams will continue to bear fruit.”
