Maintenance company HomeServe has reported a 9% increase in interim profits on the back of strong customer growth in the US.

Adjusted profit before tax came in at £28.7m ($35.8m) for the six months ended 30 September, up from £26.2m in the same period a year ago.

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HomeServe's acquisition of Utility Services Partners earlier this year boosted its number of partner households in the US to 49 million.

With 2.8 million customers, the US now accounts for more than a third of the company's total customer base of 7.5 million.

Customer numbers in the UK were up 2% to 2.2 million, while those in France and Spain increased 6% and 10% respectively.

"During the first half of this year we delivered the most rapid period of expansion in the US in HomeServe's history," HomeServe chief executive Richard Harpin said in a statement.

"We added a record number of new US partners, increasing partner households to 49 million and making excellent progress towards our long-term target of 80 million."

He added: "We have had a strong start to the year delivering profit growth combined with very good and increasing levels of customer service in all of our businesses.

"We remain confident of achieving good growth for the full year in line with our expectations."

Total revenue increased by 20% to £314.3m during the six-month period.