THIRTY-EIGHT partners in the upmarket estate agent Knight Frank have landed an average £1m payday after profits soared by 67% in the last financial year.

The bumper performance, which represented another record year for the partnership, is likely to be interpreted as the high-water mark for the property sector.

Nick Thomlinson, senior partner and chairman of Knight Frank, conceded he was circumspect about the prospects for the year ahead, but insisted that the group’s diversity and breadth of service would help it to withstand any downturn in the market cycle.

The partnership has a large commercial division, which advised clients on a string of high-profile transactions last year, including the acquisition of 30 St Mary Axe, the office building nicknamed the “Gherkin” in the City of London, for £600m.

Its residential division, which is best known for selling country houses and luxury homes, has also had some big wins, including the sale of the Crown Estate’s former headquarters to tycoons Srichand and Gopichand Hin-duja. In November Kate Moss sold the three-bedroom Victorian mansion in north London that she shared with former lover Pete Doherty for £3.25m through Knight Frank.

In total, its residential division sold more than 700 London and country properties, each worth more than £2m, last year.

The partnership expanded Rutley Capital Partners, its private-equity arm, which after only two years has £1 billion of property assets under management.

Rutley is launching new funds at the moment focused on India and East Africa.

Knight Frank said that, overall, in the financial year to April 30, 2007, turnover rose by 32% to £284.4m and underlying group operating profits increased by 67% to £59.6m.

In total its staff will now share in a £51.4m bonus pool, but the biggest earners will be its 38 proprietary partners, who saw their average earnings rise by 47% to £1.1m each. The top earner, whose identity was not disclosed, bagged £1.8m.

The group is still expanding in Britain and took on 200 new staff last year.

The residential arm opened four new offices in Cobham, Chelsea, Richmond and Sutton Coldfield. The commercial division is expanding overseas – it recently opened a new office in Munich.

Thomlinson insisted that the first six months of the current financial year had got off to a very good start and there was still a “head of steam” for new deals. “We haven’t seen activity dry up yet,” he said.

The strong performance comes as Knight Frank prepares to leave its historic Hanover Square headquarters close to London’s Oxford Circus in favour of a modern open-plan office at the former Marks & Spencer headquarters on Baker Street.

The group was founded in 1896 and has enjoyed many high-profile instructions throughout its history.

In 1911 it sold the Crystal Palace to Lord Plymouth for £210,000 and in 1915 sold Stonehenge for £6,600 to Cecil Chubb, who gave it to his wife as a present. She gave it to the nation three years later. In 1921 Knight Frank sold the entire town of Reigate for £203,840.

Knight Frank is one of the few property consultancies to retain its partnership status. But Thomlinson insisted it had no plans to bring in outside shareholders or seek a stock-market listing.

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