The television production company co-founded by Sir Bob Geldof, the musician orchestrating next month's Live 8 concerts, has reported a near 400 per cent jump in pre-tax profits for its most recent financial year.

The company will be involved in Live 8 through its events division, providing two of the big screens in Hyde Park, according to a company spokesman, "on a not-for-profit basis".

Ten Alps, which Sir Bob co-founded six years ago with Alex Connock and Des Shaw, made profits before tax of £628,000 on dramatically increased revenues of £34.75 million in the 12 months to the end of this March. Last year, Ten Alps posted pre-tax profits of just £126,000 on revenues of £16.734m.

Staff numbers have shot up to 152 from 92.

Sir Bob is a director, minority shareholder and occasional presenter at Ten Alps, which said as it published its annual profits numbers that it had ambitious plans to grow, in part by hiring "more top TV producers" and also by considering acquisitions.

Mr Connock, chief executive of Ten Alps, said: "Organic growth in Ten Alps' TV business has the been the feature of the year. There has also been growth in broadcasters' appetite for factual TV, and indeed growth in the independent sector as a whole. We have reason to be optimistic about achieving further progress in the current year."

Its programmes in the past year include Jeremy Vine meets...for BBC1, The Very Worst... strand for BSkyB, and Peaches Geldof: Inside the Mind of a Teenager, made with Sir Bob's eldest daughter. Sir Bob's fellow directors include Brian Walden, the former Labour MP who for many years presented Weekend World for LWT.

The profits hike at Ten Alps - a mis-spelled anagram of the Planet 24 TV venture Mr Geldof was previously involved with - comes as his forthcoming Live 8 concerts continue to attract controversy.

Designed to raise funds, and political awareness, to help combat the poverty gripping large swathes of Africa, Live 8 has found itself derided for not including enough black artists at the London concert. Bands that play the event are also expected to profit from the profile and considerable free publicity.

Damon Albarn, the former Blur frontman, told the BBC at the end of last week that more black artists should be playing in London and that bands or their record companies should be charged for the privilege of playing the Live 8 concerts.

He said: "This country is incredibly diverse. More than ever, black culture is an integral part of society. So why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon? If you are holding a party on behalf of people then surely you don't shut the door on them."

Mr Albarn also raised the possibility of record companies paying a "tariff" so that their featured artists can play.

In response, Live 8 made plain it wanted the event to feature the most popular bands and musicians in order to generate the maximum revenue possible. A spokesman said: "Bob Geldof's intention was to get headline-grabbing shows full of people who fill stadiums and arenas."

Today, a spokesman for Ten Alps told Times Online that, "Subject to contract, Ten Alps may, through its events division, be organising on a not-for-profit basis, two of the big screens in Hye Park."

Ten Alps, which specialises in factual programme-making, said today that it had 35 productions under way, including documentaries and docudramas for the BBC, Channel 4, Five, Sky One and the Discovery channel.

It said it was responsible for more than 50 programmes last year.

It highlighted its involvement in the Teachers' TV channel dedicated to programmes for teachers and backed by the Department for Education and Skills. Ten Alps, via its Brook Lapping subsidiary, holds a 70 per cent stake in the consortium that operates Teachers' TV, which launched in February.

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