Full Year Results for the Year Ended 31 January 2026
29 April 2026
- Significant revenue and profit growth delivering results marginally ahead of market expectations (1)
- A record number of fee earners joined Keystone increasing total fee earners by 13.5% to 654
- AI success being achieved by implementing and promoting solutions tailored to our business
Keystone, the premier tech-enabled platform law firm, is pleased to announce its full year results for the year ended 31 January 2026 (‘FY2026’ or the ‘Period’).
Financial Highlights:
- Revenue growth of 17.9% to £115.2 million (2025: £97.7 million)
- Revenue per Principal up 10.5% to £243k (2025: £220k)
- Adjusted PBT up 20.6% to £15.3 million (2025: £12.7 million) representing an adjusted PBT margin of 13.3% (2025: 13.0%)
- Adjusted basic EPS of 37.0p (2025: 30.4p)
- Cash generated from operations up 17% to £13.5 million (2025: £11.5 million) with operating cash conversion of 98.9% (2025: 94.5%)
- Strong balance sheet with net cash of £9.7 million (2025: £9.7 million)
- Paid interim ordinary dividend of 7.5p per share and proposed final ordinary dividend of 17.2p per share bringing total ordinary dividend per share to 24.7p per share (2025: 20.2p)
Operational Highlights:
- Delivered an excellent operational and financial performance with strong client demand across the business
- Significant levels of applicant demand in the Period reflecting Keystone’s market position
- Buoyant recruitment environment delivered 294 qualified new applicants (2025: 283) in the Period
- 22% increase in Principals recruited with 61 new Principals added (2025: 50) bringing total Principals to 491 (2025: 455)
- 31% increase in offers accepted with 68 new joiners in the Period (2025: 52)
- 35% increase in ‘other’ fee earners to 163 (146 pod members and 17 central office lawyers), with total fee earners up 13.5% to 654
- Quality focused recruitment strategy continues to reinforce Keystone as ‘the premier platform law firm’
- 221 Keystone lawyers ranked in Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2025 (2025: 207 listed, up from 65 in 2019)
- Investment in Keystone’s tech-enabled platform and ongoing AI adoption
- Ongoing implementation and evaluation of IT infrastructure to drive real impact for our lawyers and the broader business
- Rolled out several AI initiatives to enhance our offering to lawyers, including deploying secure, locked-down versions of ChatGPT and Claude and adopting the NetDocuments AI extension
- Designed and delivered our brand refresh which accurately reflect Keystone today
- Launched a new website and marketing collateral in Q1 2027, enhancing stakeholder experience and strengthening our market position to support growth
Current Trading and Outlook:
- The Group has made a positive start to 2027 with client demand and recruitment activity remaining positive during Q1 2027
- The Board remains confident that Keystone will continue to deliver strong, sustainable growth and expects adjusted PBT to be ahead of current market expectations for 2027 (2),
(1) Management understand market expectations prior to this announcement for 2026 to be: revenue £114.3m, adjusted PBIT £12.7 and adjusted PBT £15.1m.
(2) Management understand market expectations prior to this announcement for 2027 to be: revenue £122.3m, adjusted PBIT £13.6 and adjusted PBT £15.1m.
James Knight, Chief Executive Officer of Keystone, commented:
“We delivered another excellent year for Keystone, with strong operational and financial momentum driven by sustained client demand and continued growth in lawyer numbers.
Our brand refresh, which more accurately reflects the evolution of Keystone, underscores our ambition and further reinforces our position as the premier tech-enabled platform law firm. In addition, the ongoing investment in IT infrastructure and AI capabilities continues to differentiate our highly scalable model, underpinning both our strong balance sheet and progressive dividend policy.
I would like to personally thank everyone at Keystone for their ongoing support and look forward to the new financial year which I’m confident will be another period of sustained growth.”
Analyst Briefing
A virtual meeting for sell-side analysts will be held virtually at 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 29 April 2026. Sell-side analysts wishing to attend this event can register via email at: keystonelaw@vigoconsulting.com
Retail Investor Presentation
Keystone's management team will provide a separate presentation and Q&A for retail investors at 1.00 p.m. on Friday, 1 May 2026.
The presentation will be hosted on the Investor Meet Company platform, where questions can be submitted pre-event up until 9.00 a.m. on the day before the meeting, or at any time during the live presentation.
Investors can register for free and subscribe to alerts on Keystone by visiting:
www.investormeetcompany.com/keystone-law-group-plc/register-investor
Investors who already follow Keystone on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.
For further information please contact:
Keystone Law Group plc
James Knight, Chief Executive Officer
Ashley Miller, Finance Director
www.keystonelaw.com
+44 (0) 20 3319 3700
Panmure Liberum Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
Atholl Tweedie (Corporate Finance)
Rupert Dearden (Corporate Broking)
www.panmureliberum.com
+44 (0) 20 7886 2500
Investec Bank plc (Joint Broker)
Carlton Nelson
James Rudd
+44 (0) 20 7597 5970
Vigo Consulting (Financial Public Relations)
Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Hetherington
keystonelaw@vigoconsulting.com
+44 (0)207 390 0233
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").
Notes to editors
Keystone (AIM: KEYS) is a highly scalable, premier tech-enabled platform law firm. Ranked within the UK Top 100 law firms, providing conventional legal services in a £12bn addressable market through its differentiated platform model which has three defining characteristics:
- Lawyers have freedom, flexibility and autonomy, and are paid up to 75% of what they bill.
- Lawyers determine how, when and where they work, in contrast to the conventional law firm model.
- Lawyers are provided full infrastructure and support via its central office team, bespoke user-friendly IT platform, and network of colleagues and events.
Keystone is a full-service law firm, with extensive experience across a wide range of sectors and specialisms. With nearly 500 high calibre self-employed Principal lawyers, supported by over 150 other fee earners, Keystone delivers dynamic services to its client base which ranges from fast growing start-ups to multinational corporations and high net worth individuals.
More information about Keystone can be found at www.keystonelaw.co.uk.