Hollywood Bowl has reported a jump in profits and hiked its dividend payouts after it was boosted by growth in Canada.

Shares in the ten-pin bowling operator moved higher on Monday morning as a result.

The company, which has 71 centres in the UK - including one in Bolton - and 11 in Canada, posted a pre-tax profit of £29.5 million for the six months to March, up 10.5% year-on-year.

It came on the back of an 8.1 per cent increase in revenues to £119.2 million for the year.

The firm’s UK business – its largest division – saw like-for-like sales grow by 1.3 per cent with eight per cent growth across its Splitsville brand in Canada.

Hollywood Bowl said it was boosted by investment across its portfolio of sites, including a major refurbishment programme which “remain on track and is delivering returns”.

The firm said it has acquired and rebranded a new site in Lincoln in recent months and opened a new Dundee centre last month. It said it is also opening another new site in Canada over the current half-year.

Stephen Burns, chief executive officer of Hollywood Bowl, said: “We are pleased to have welcomed so many families, friends and colleagues to our centres in the first half, demonstrating the continued demand for high-quality, family-friendly leisure experiences at affordable prices, particularly against the backdrop of higher living expenses.

“We are confident in the outlook for Hollywood Bowl and in our ability to capture the longer-term opportunity to grow our estate to over 130 centres in the next 10 years.”

The firm declared an interim dividend of 3.98p per share following the “strong earnings growth”, up 21.7 per cent on the same period a year earlier.