After confirming Nick Robinson's return as chief executive, services firm Phoenix IT Group announced a spike in both revenue and profit for the six months to the end of September.

Revenue jumped 25.4 per cent on the same period last year and stood at £127.8m while profit from operations rose 2.7 per cent on 2007 to £11.5m. Phoenix's ICM business continuity arm was a key growth area with revenue up 45.9 per cent to £25.4m. Partner services revenue rose 10.6 per cent to £53.7m while revenue from the mid-market focused Servo business jumped 35.5 per cent to £48.7m.

Phoenix also claimed the six-month period had seen the completion of its integration of ICM, which it acquired in summer 2007. The company also hailed the opening of new data centre facilities in Birstall and Farnborough and the expansion of its business continuity operations in Aston.

Phoenix's executive chairman Peter Bertram said: "I am pleased to report a solid performance for Phoenix with good growth across all divisions. The Group continues to be highly cash generative. The investment in capacity, particularly in Business Continuity and in hosting facilities, enables our continued growth into the medium term.

"Despite the economic uncertainty and the softening in the market for Partner Services, the sales pipeline for the Group continues to be strong and there continues to be high levels of recurring revenue. The Group is well-positioned in each of the markets that it serves and the Board remains confident in the Group's overall prospects for the current year and beyond, and today has announced a 15 per cent increase in the interim dividend."

Phoenix has also announced the departure of Jeremy Stafford as chief executive officer after less than a year at the helm. Stafford's predecessor Nick Robinson will resume the role he vacated last year. Bertram said: "We are grateful to Jeremy for the contribution he has made since he joined Phoenix. We wish Jeremy well in his future career."