OnlyFans has paid its owner $338m (£268m) in dividends as the site’s popularity surges.

Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur who owns pornography websites, is its only shareholder.

Accounts released by parent company Fenix International have revealed the adult subscription platform has seen a surge in profitability.

The site had almost 3.2 million content creators in 2022, up 47% when compared with the year before.

Meanwhile, the total number of fans on the platform is up 27% to 238.8 million.

The UK-based company racked up a pre-tax profit of $525m (£417m) – substantially more than the £374m achieved in 2021.

Sex workers can post pictures and videos to the platform, with users paying a direct subscription fee to access it.

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Fans paid a total of $5.6bn (£4.4bn) to access amateur pornographic content on the platform in 2022, with creators keeping 80% of their earnings.

In its accounts, OnlyFans’ parent company said its mission is to build the safest social media platform, while empowering content creators.

And while best known for X-rated material, the business said that it is now starting to host safe-for-work videos about cooking, comedy, fitness and music.

The figures went on to reveal the business paid over £87m (£69m) in corporation tax over the year.

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Profit news follows ad row

Earlier this week, giant billboards featuring an OnlyFans model wearing a bra were cleared by the UK’s advertising watchdog following a string of complaints.

The Advertising Standards Authority said the posters were “unlikely” to offend because they were not “overtly sexual” and “did not objectify women”.

About 30 complaints were received, amid concerns that one of the billboards was just 450m away from a school.

Rose Watson – the model who appears in the advert – told The Sun last month that she earns £200,000 a month by selling explicit images on OnlyFans.

Commenting on the reaction to the billboards, she said: “If people are offended by my ad, I’m assuming they’re also complaining about Ann Summers and Jack Daniels ones.

“You see ads for gambling, alcohol, sex toys, lingerie – there is no difference between that type of adult-oriented ad and my adult-oriented ad.

“This is a real business, if a gambling or alcohol company can run their ads, which have far more devastating impacts, why not me?”

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