Online gambling company 888 Holdings, which ended talks on a takeover by larger rival William Hill last month, said it would hand a special dividend to shareholders after full-year earnings increased by a third.
888, which offers casino, poker and bingo games and is expanding its sports betting business, said its 2014 core earnings rose 33% to $101m.
This was ahead of an average forecast of $91.9m, according to Reuters data.
The performance was driven by a 14% rise in revenue, with trade at its core casino business particularly strong.
888 said it would pay a final dividend of 4.5 cents per share, and recommended an additional one-off dividend of 7 cents per share, bringing the total for the year to 15 cents.
Like rivals, the firm's future profits are expected to behurt by a new UK tax on profits from bets made by its British-based customers, which was introduced in December.
The company said average daily revenue in the first quarter so far was 6% lower than a year ago, in line with its expectations.
It remained upbeat on its prospects, however, as it said new regulations would marginalise smaller competitors, while the underlying trend of more people going online and using mobiles to play and bet would underpin trade.
