PHONE group TalkTalk reported good progress in its first year since demerging from the former Carphone Warehouse group, today.

The broadband and voice provider, which employs 1,000 staff at a Warrington call centre, saw revenues rise by 4.7% to £1.76bn and post-tax profits improve by 24.5% to £122m, compared on a pro-forma standalone basis last year, in the year to March 31.

Integration of the Tiscali business has also been completed, generating £55m of synergies.

Chairman Charles Dunstone said: “During this first year since our demerger we have seen the benefits of our growth and scale being delivered in the form of strong earnings and cashflow growth.”

He also pledged to reward shareholders from next year, saying: “From full year 2012 our dividend policy will reflect our progress and the strength of our cash generation and we aim to distribute 50% of our headline earnings per share as regular dividends.”

Chief executive Dido Harding added: “This was a strong all-round performance in a year of major change across the business.

“We exited the year with momentum and we intend to build this further through the year.”

The new-look business aims to target the small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) market through its TalkTalk Business division, which bolstered its offer with the acquisition, shortly after the year end, of Executel, a regional unified communications solutions business.

Business to business revenue of £80m in the fourth quarter was flat on a quarter-to-quarter basis.