Wonga, the highly controversial payday lender, made a profit of £84.5m last year as the business continued to grow in the UK as well as overseas.

The company, which has been criticised by the Archbishop of Canterbury over the summer, saw profits rise by 35% as customer numbers boomed. They releasing their annual accounts this morning, Wonga said it made a pre-tax profit of £84.5m last year, up from £62.4m in the previous year. Net profit rose 36% to £62.5m.

The increase came on the back of a 68% increase in lending, to £1.2bn. More than one million customers borrowed from Wonga, whose annualised percentage interest rate is above an astonishing 4000%. Turnover rose 67% to £309.3m in the year. In an attempt to deflect some of the negative comments the profits are likely to draw, Wonga highlighted that it paid more than £21m in corporation tax in the UK last year.

In addition to the UK, where it made 3.8m loans last year, its consumer business has expanded in to South Africa, Poland, Spain and Canada. As well as its consumer loans business, Wonga expanded by opening a loans for business arm last year. The company also launched a product for the online retail payments market.

Chairman Robin Klein said: “Wonga’s profitability during 2012 was the result of the large scale of our operations and an unflinching commitment to provide a flexible and convenient service designed around customers.”