The maker of the popular television shows Supernanny and Selling Houses helped its parent company post a ten per cent rise in turnover this week.

Richochet, in Dyke Road, Brighton, was commissioned to make new series of both programmes for Channel 4 and a new series of Living in the Sun for the BBC.

Supernanny on the ABC network in the US outperformed its previous two seasons and was rewarded with a very early pick-up for series four.

Ricochet is owned by London-based Shed Productions which has been working hard to rebuild revenues following the loss of Footballers' Wives and Bad Girls.

Shed, which produced Waterloo Road, posted a ten per cent rise in turnover to £19.1 million in the six months to February 28, up from £17.3 million last year.

However, pre-tax profits slipped from £2.8 million in 2006 to £2.3 million due to a greater proportion of lower-margin factual entertainment programming.

The group said that it was confident of meeting full year profits expectations thanks to new commissions and strong revenues from its intellectual property rights.

Chief executive Eileen Gallagher said the six-month period had demonstrated the "strength and depth" of Shed's creative and commercial abilities as the group worked to replace revenues lost from Footballers' Wives and Bad Girls after they were decommissioned last year.

School drama series Waterloo Road helped boost performance at the group's drama division after it was commissioned for a third series on BBC1, with a substantial increase in the order from 12 hours to 20 hours.

Meanwhile, the division also secured a commission from ITV for the prime-time showing of its new drama Rock Rivals, set around a TV talent show.