Digitalbox PLC (LON:DBOX) shares soared on Thursday as it said its adjusted pre-tax profits for 2019 had come in ahead of market expectations.

The AIM-listed firm, which owns celebrity news site Entertainment Daily and satire brand The Daily Mash, said in a trading update that revenues and operating margins had also come in ahead of forecasts, with the growth attributed to its Insights programme which is designed to analyse user behaviour and inform content strategy.

WATCH: Digitalbox profits ahead of expectations for 2019

Over the year, Digitalbox reported that Entertainment Daily had seen its Google-sourced traffic surge by 127%, while audience levels at The Daily Mash website rose 15% year-on-year in the second half of 2019 as advertising revenue continued to grow.

James Carter, the company’s chief executive, said Entertainment Daily’s success had been boosted by the group’s focus on “mobile-optimised content”, while the integration of The Daily Mash, which Digitalbox bought last March had allowed the brand to achieve “further growth in revenue” as a result of the firm’s technology platform.

Looking ahead, Carter added that the company was “continuing to evaluate opportunities to acquire more digital publishing assets”.

The shares surged 22.3% to 8.1p in early deals.

--Adds share price--