The online panel provider’s sales jumped from £21.7m to £49.5m, helped by the $40m acquisition of Greenfield Online in July – but costs related to the acquisition and integration of the business led to a drop in reported pre-tax profits to £2.2m from from £4.7m in 2008. Profits after tax were down to £1.6m from £3.5m.

Petit (pictured) said: “This has been a remarkable year for Toluna, with record revenues and underlying profits and the transformational acquisition of Greenfield Online. We are well placed to deliver further growth for our shareholders.”

In its statement to shareholders, Toluna said 2009 was the “year in which the group achieved critical mass” in terms of both sales figures and the establishment of a “scalable platform for growth”.

The firm said that over the course of the year its number of panel members reached the four million mark across 30 countries and that the early part of 2010 had seen “robust” trading conditions. “Whilst we remain mindful that the global economy has yet to recover from its downturn,” Toluna said, “we are confident in our ability to continue growing geographically and strategically.”

Meanwhile, the company said it will celebrate its 10th anniversary by donating 50,000 shares to charities around the world.