Pinsent Masons has delayed its partners' profit distributions, due to the firm failing to hit billing and cash collection targets during the start of the financial year.

The profits were due to be paid to partners this month, and related to the firm's Q1 financial performance.

A person with knowledge of the situation said the move was related to billing and cash collection targets and added that the firm is set to review its distribution system.

A spokesperson for the firm said in a statement: "We can confirm that we have delayed a proportion of the Q1 distribution to partners. This is not an unusual step in the context of our firm and is something we have done a number of times in previous years, while still achieving significant positive growth in those years. Equally, we review our distributions policy from time to time to ensure it takes into account the ebb and flow of the financial cycle, which rarely fits neatly into each quarter."

The news was first reported by the Financial Times.

The decision to delay profit distributions is relatively rare.

Prior to its collapse, the European arm of King & Wood Mallesons delayed its quarterly profit distributions for five months.

Meanwhile, Ashurst delayed a payment following a difficult 2015-16. The firm subsequently overhauled its profit distribution system, shifting from the traditional monthly distribution to an annual payout.

With reporting by Krishnan Nair.