SJ Berwin has paid back its delayed February profit distributions to partners in full, after payments were held back to improve cash flow at the firm.

The firm has confirmed that it repaid the amount in two instalments in late March and early April, after it emerged at the start of March that the firm held back quarterly profit distributions due to be paid to partners in February.

The firm previously said that it had opted to postpone paying out distributions on the back of a large January tax bill and increased international investment.

The firm held back around £18m in partner profit distributions between November 2008 and the beginning of 2010 to improve cash management during the recession, before going on to repay what was owed.

The news comes after Ashurst resumed quarterly distribution payouts in February after it held back the last payment for 2012. An increasing number of law firms have recently deferred partner distributions in response to economic uncertainty, including Field Fisher Waterhouse and Berwin Leighton Paisner, which was last month reported to have pushed back its annual bonus payments to senior equity partners.

However, recent Legal Week research found that the majority of partners view moves by firms to hold back profit payouts as sensible financial management.

The bulk of respondents to the survey described such moves as 'prudent financial management', with 42% saying it 'makes complete sense', while a further 41% believed such moves made sense for certain firms.

For more, see Partners support firm moves to hold back profit distributions to shore up finances.