SJ Berwin cleared more than £20m of loans and debts owed to its limited liability partnership (LLP) members during 2009-10, according to the firm's recently-filed accounts.

The Companies House filings show that total amounts due to the LLP's members decreased from £21.6m to just £1.1m during the financial year.

The repayments come after the firm took a conservative approach to cash management during the downturn, holding back the majority of quarterly partner profits (PEP) distributions from November 2008 through to March 2010. The firm's PEP nearly halved to £410,000 during the 2008-09 financial year.

However, during 2009-10 profits available for division among the firm's members increased by 13% on the previous year, rising from £37.6m to £42.5m.

SJ Berwin previously reported a 9% increase in PEP to £447,000, but the firm said the figure had been further boosted by £5.6m by foreign exchange rate gains.

The accounts also show that the firm improved its total cash position by almost £7m during the financial year, up from £1.5m in the red to £5.2m.

A total of £500,000 was paid off the firm's £10m three-year revolving bank loan facility, while its overdraft was halved from £4.4m to £2.5m and net cash inflow from operating activities decreased from £84.3m to £59.6m.

The accounts marks the first full financial year for the firm's Middle East and Asia operations, which contributed £617,000 and £796,000 respectively to firmwide total turnover of £171m. UK turnover decreased from £127.7m to £116m and Europe turnover fell from £55.9m to £53.5m.

The firm's total staff numbers decreased by around 10%, or by 101 staff (including 59 fee earners) which saw costs fall 7.5% from £79m to £73m. The average number of partners was down from 172 to 164, with pay for the top-earner falling 34% from £1.2m to £809,800, although last year's top figure included a retirement provision.

SJ Berwin finance director Mike Giles commented: "Revenue was down so we had another difficult year in trading terms, but we had a much tighter control on costs, saving on admin expenses and operating costs, which meant we were able to edge profitability up marginally."

Top 20 rival Bird & Bird has also recently filed its LLP accounts, which, in contrast many other UK firms, show staff numbers and costs increasing over the year. Total staff costs rose from £94m to £96.3m against an increase in total staff from 725 to 757.

The firm improved revenues by 9.4% to £201.8m while PEP decreased by 3.1% to £466,000. The best-paid member at the firm took home £863,000 compared to £907,000 the previous year.