Blues lose £140m
Chelsea have revealed league-record losses of £140m (€204.2m) for their championship-winning year.
However, pre-tax figures for 2004-05 show a 6% reduction in player wages and a 4.1% increase in football revenues.
The Barclays Premiership champions, who remain firmly on course to retain their title this season, insist they are moving in the right direction – with the objective of becoming profitable by the end of the decade.
In 2003-04, they posted losses of £88m (€128.4m) – which far exceeded any record deficit at a British club.
But Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck had stressed the last financial year saw the club absorb “exceptional charges” – including the £25m (€36.5m) paid out to kit suppliers Umbro in return for freedom from that deal, and the termination of £13.8m (€20.1m) striker Adrian Mutu’s contract.
The Umbro payment, Chelsea insist, will be a successful investment – because in its place has come a £100m (€146m) adidas 10-year deal, while the club have also struck a £50m (€72.9m) shirt sponsorship contract with Samsung.
Neither the adidas nor Samsung deal figures in the accounts for the year ending June 30 2005.
