FA Premiership:Chelsea will today announce losses of £80 million for the last financial year, a £60-million reduction on the £140-million deficit recorded in 2004-2005.
The £80-million loss, the lowest recorded in the three full years since Roman Abramovich took control of the club, takes the aggregate losses during the Russian's ownership to £308 million and his total spending on the club to over £500 million.
Accounts for the year ending June 30th, 2006, to be lodged today at Companies House, will show a 42.5 per cent reduction in annual losses, taking the figure below the £88 million lost in 2003-2004, the first of Abramovich's ownership.
Chelsea agreed more than £100 million in fees for Andriy Shevchenko (£30.8 million), Jon Obi Mikel (£16 million), Solomon Kalou (between £8 million and £10 million), Lassana Diarra (£2 million) Michael Essien (£24.4 million) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (£21 million), offset only by the sale of Eidur Gudjohnsen to Barcelona for £8 million.
The total spending on transfers since Abramovich took over is more than £375 million, with £175 million spent in 2003-2004 and £101 million in 2004-2005.
The accounts are also expected to show Abramovich loaned at least £100 million to the club to underwrite the losses.
Having originally paid £150 million to buy Chelsea, in 2003-2004 he loaned £120 million in exchange for share capital and committed a further £150 million in 2004-2005 to ensure the club remained a going concern.
The accounts are also expected to show an increase of more than £7 million in turnover from football-related business, which in 2004-2005 reached £123 million. The bulk of the new income comes from the shirt sponsorship deal with Samsung, worth £11 million a year. The club received almost £9.7 million in prize money after their second successive Premiership title.
- Guardian Service
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