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Highlights
- The CMA’s boss, Dr Andrea Coscelli, said that the organization has been facing some difficulty of late in attracting lawyers amid rising salaries being offered by the private sector.
- Despite CMA’s expanded budget, the body is unable to attract talent due to civil services PayScale not being able to compete with the private sector.
The UK’s competition body, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) head, Dr Andrea Coscelli, had recently said that the organization is facing some difficulty in attracting lawyers amid rising salaries being offered by the hot private sector.
Mr. Coscelli added that lawyers’ paychecks had risen sharply due to significant mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity in the private sector, whereas the CMA has a civil services level of wages.
Post Brexit, the CMA’s powers have expanded in order to take on several powers of the European Commissions. This has led CMA’s budget to increase to £130 million per annum, up from £65 million.
Despite this increased budget, the CMA is finding it hard to beat out the private sector in terms of attracting legal talent due to its civil services PayScale’s.
Given this background, let us take a deep dive into 2 FTSE listed industrial stocks operating in the legal and professional services sector, and explore their investment potential:
- DWF Group PLC (LON: DWF)
DWF Group is a legal and related services provider. It is a part of the FTSE All-Share index.
The group has been recently appointed to the NHS Resolution’s Legal Services Panel. According to the company’s statement, the agreement will start from next month onwards, 1 March 2022.
The agreement is expected to continue for at least three years and will account for a total annual legal services expenditure of around £188 million.
The group’s HY 2022 revenue rose by 3.8 per cent to £203.5 million, up from £196.0 million in HY 2021.
Image source: EODHD/Others
The company’s shares were trading at GBX 115.50, lower by 0.43 per cent on 1 February at 12:28 hrs BST. At the same time the FTSE All-Share index was at 4,233.97, up by 1.01 per cent.
DWF has a market cap of £377.41 million and a one-year return of 33.67 per cent as of date.
- Knights Group Holdings PLC (LON:KGH)
Knights Group Holdings is a UK based legal and professional services firm. It is a part of the FTSE AIM 100 index.
The group recently agreed to acquire an independent law firm, Langleys Solicitors LLP, in a deal worth around £11.5 million, subject to working capital adjustments at the time of completion. As per the terms of the deal, it will be acquired on a debt-free and cash-free basis. The deal is expected to be completed by 25 March 2022.
Image source: EODHD/Others
The company’s shares were trading at GBX 389.00, down by 2.75 per cent on 1 February at 12:48 hrs BST. While the FTSE AIM 100 index was at 5,323.58, up by 0.84 per cent. Knights Group has a market cap of £335.57 million as of date.
