Internet service provider iiNet’s half year net profit is down nine per cent.

The company made a net profit of $29 million for the six months to December 31, compared to $31.9 million in the same period the previous year.

But the company said the net profit was only down because a one-off tax rebate of $8 million had inflated the company’s profit during the first half of the 2013 financial year.

Revenue was up four per cent at $493.1 million for the half year, compared with $473.6 million in the previous year.

The company’s shares had climbed 39 cents, or 5.2 per cent, to $7.89 by 1210 AEDT.

Acting chief executive David Buckingham said iiNet had grown its broadband customer base, added 16,000 net new broadband customers and had continued to grow business customer revenue by five per cent.

It also had acquired a number of complementary businesses in the past five years, including South Australian rival Adam Internet last year.

“We continue to build on iiNet’s position as the second largest provider of DSL broadband and the leading challenger brand in the Australian telecommunications market,” he said in a statement.

The company declared a fully-franked interim dividend of nine cents.