BOOKMAKER William Hill today hailed the popularity of its Internet business as it toasted a 29 per cent hike in half yearly profits.

The London-based group said operating profits soared by 50 per cent to '24.2m at the interactive division, which allows punters to place bets via the web.

This included strong growth at all sections of the arm, including online casino and poker games, while sports betting arm Sportsbook benefited from favourable horse racing and football results.

The performance contributed to underlying profits at William Hill rising to '131.2m during the 26 weeks to June 29.

William Hill's other two divisions - its UK betting shops and telephone gambling - also boosted fortunes with double digit growth in gross win.

Despite this, results for the eight weeks to August 24 showed gross win rose at a slower rate of eight per cent, as horse racing results were less favourable to bookmakers. This sent shares down four per cent to 519p.

Chairman Charles Scott said he was confident in the outlook for the group and proposed a "significant" increase in the interim dividend to 5.5p per share from 3.5p. Tweet