Easydate shares soared 12p or 13.3% to 102.5p yesterday after it announced a maiden first-half profit of just under £2m, compared to just under £1m for the whole of 2009.

Revenue from its sites, which include benaughty.com, girlsdateforfree.com and maturedating.co.uk, was £8.8m for the period, against £8.5m for the full year to December 2009.

The Edinburgh-based company is now valued at £77m, £32m more than when it listed at 60p a share on June 30.

Mr Dobbie’s personal stake has risen in value from £14.6m to £25m.

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