Chorion, the former owner of the Trocadero, is seeking to generate new revenue from its rights to the works of crime writer Agatha Christie by using the world wide web.

It has licensed Penguin, her American publisher, to make the text of 10 of her books available for downloading from the internet. John Conlan, Chorion's chairman, said yesterday the service was available only in the United States because that was the only country where the necessary hardware was available.

"You pay to download a book on to a $250 Rocket eBook, an electronic book the size of a small paperback which can hold the text of up to 40 books," he said.

"This increases the royalties we can create from publishing. At present these are normally 15%. If you can remove the cost of the publisher and the retailer, the royalties could be between 50% and 60%. The 10 books are selling quite well but this will not be a meaningful business for some years. But it is the shape of things to come as we also own the rights to Enid Blyton. Children will adapt to electronic books more quickly than adults."

He said the group's intellectual property business was working on plans for the production of 100 new Make Way for Noddy episodes in digital format for broadcast in 2001.

It was also planning to develop other Blyton characters through initiatives such as television adaptations of the Famous Five, Secret Seven, and Mallory Towers books.

Chorion, which last year cut its last links with the loss-making Trocadero in London's Piccadilly Circus, reported that first half pre-tax profits rose 91% to £2.77m.

It revealed plans to expand its bar nightclub business largely by rolling out its Tiger Tiger concept to the regions.