Online gambling company Betfair plans a cash return of £200m to shareholders and higher dividend payouts after posting a 51% rise in first half earnings.
The firm, which operates an exchange that allows gamblers to bet against each other, said it made core earnings (EBITDA) of £73.9m in the six months to the end of October.
Revenues for the period rose by 26% to £237.6m.
The revenue growth was driven by strong customer base growth, the soccer World Cup and favourable sports results.
Betfair, which ended the period with £271.4m of cash, increased its interim dividend by 50% to 9 pence a share and raised its medium term dividend payout target to about 50% of earnings.
It upped its forecast of core profit in the 2014-15 year to £97-103m to reflect the first half performance and "the momentum we take into the second half".
