Experian, the credit reference agency, reported an 18 per cent rise in first half pre-tax profits, despite the falling number of consumer credit checks due to the downturn in global economies.

The company's shares climbed by more than 8 per cent in early trading to 332.75p, after the company said it would raise its interim dividend by 4 per cent.

Experian said that revenue grew at 13 per cent to $2.017 billion (£1.34 billion) in the first six months to September 30 and it expects to see second-half revenue rise at a similar rate.

Don Robert, chief executive, said: "We are adapting to market challenges, which we expect to persist into next year. We are directing the organisation towards emerging countercyclical opportunities and we are further addressing the cost base.

"For the year as a whole, our objective remains to broadly maintain margins and to grow profits, while continuing to position the business for long-term success,” Mr Robert said.

The credit crunch has brought a decline in Experian's bread-and-butter business of checking credit card and personal loan applications and mortgage approvals while the consolidation of the financial services industry means that its pool of clients is shrinking.

At the beginning of the year it announced plans to axe hundreds of jobs in Britain as it grappled with the slowdown in growth.

It also put its Pricegrabber price-comparison website up for sale less than three years after it paid almost $500m for the online firm.

However, the company has stepped up its work helping clients to recover cash from debtors and has tools to help identify who to collect from and when. It also has models that help identify loans that are likely to become bad debts, both for consumers and small businesses, which it expects to become more in demand as the economy deteriorates.

Experian’s Latin American division delivered the strongest performance, with revenue at constant exchange rates more than doubling to $263 million. This growth offset flat revenue in the company’s more developed markets of North America, Britain and Ireland.

The credit agency said it was also helped by a cost-savings plan, which it expects will save the company $70 million during the current financial year.

The company said net debt at the end of September was $2.616 billion and that the receipt of $203 million from the sale of its French transaction processing businesses meant net debt was back within its target range of 1.75 to 2.0 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

“Given the current financial and economic climate, which puts a premium on financial soundness and liquidity, we think it is appropriate to target the bottom end of this range,” the company said.

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