• Premier League

Chelsea announce £49.4m loss

ESPN staff
January 1, 2014
Jose Mourinho may have to do without in the January transfer window © Getty Images
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Chelsea made a loss of £49.4 million in the last financial year, but the club say they still satisfy UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.

The financial results for the year ending June 30, 2013, show a record turnover of £255.8 million - the fourth successive year it has increased - despite exiting the Champions League at the 2012-13 group stage.

Chelsea enjoyed a 19 percent rise in commercial income from £67 million to £79.6 million as they won the Europa League, although a reduction in income from the success of winning the previous year's Champions League contributed to the £49.4 million loss.

Despite that, Jose Mourinho's side will satisfy FFP regulations as the two-year monitoring period includes the £1.4 million profit made in the 2011-12 season. Chelsea also see around £15 million knocked off their overall loss in add backs, which includes infrastructure costs, youth development costs and charitable donations among other outgoings.

That brings Chelsea's losses for the period to approximately £34 million, falling under the FFP threshold of €45 million (£37.5 million).

"From the very beginning of the current ownership of Chelsea Football Club, a long-term objective was financial sustainability, and the subsequent implementation of Financial Fair Play by UEFA and by the Premier League has brought that to the top of the agenda for football clubs," Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said.

"We are pleased therefore that we will meet the stipulations set down by UEFA in their first assessment period, and by our own analysis we are progressing from a commercial viewpoint as well as continuing to add trophies to our collection, which we never lose sight of as our most important goal."

The next financial year's results will be boosted by, among other things, a new 10-year kit deal with Adidas. The deal with the sportswear manufacturer is thought to be worth £300 million and, while announced in June, will be recorded from the 2013-14 accounts.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: "For Chelsea FC to achieve a record level of turnover despite our first group-stage elimination from the Champions League shows we have structured our business and are growing in the correct way for long-term stability.

"Our philosophy is we build upon success on the pitch and although in these financial results we haven't repeated the sizeable profits made the previous year from player transfers, we believe the age profile of the existing squad means we will benefit from that investment for many years to come.

"A successful team builds awareness around the world and our increased commercial revenues in 2012/13 and new or extended partnership deals demonstrate we are working hard to capitalise on that."

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