Denton Wilde Sapte increased its bank debt to £15.9m over the last financial year after taking out a £7m loan, the firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts have revealed.

Information contained within the 2008-09 accounts shows that the firm's bank debt increased from £8.8m in 2007-08 to £15.9m last year after the firm opted to borrow extra cash.

Dentons saw its annual inflow of cash drop from £50.2m to £39.8m after experiencing a difficult 12 months during which profits per equity partner fell by 36% to £300,000.

Last June the UK top 20 firm asked partners to inject an extra £7.8m into the firm's business, although these figures are not contained within the 2008-09 accounts.

Dentons also paid out £3.1m to fund its restructuring, which took place at the beginning of last year when the firm cut up 76 jobs across its Milton Keynes and London offices.

Other information contained within the accounts reveal that Dentons spent £60.6m on salaries for its total staff of 1,249 during 2008-09, compared to the £56.2m paid out to 1,187 staff during the previous year.

The highest-paid earner at the firm for 2008-09 made £587,447, compared to last year's figure of £605,000.

The firm is expecting to launch a new document management system in May this year, which it has already spent £677,000 on and is expected to cost a total of £1.5m.