Brighton & Hove Albion's annual accounts – relating to the season before the current one – have now been filed with Companies House and the Football League, and the figures show a significant improvement on the previous year's accounts as the club cut annual losses to £10.6m.
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For the year ending 30 June 2014, turnover increased £0.6m to £24.0m and operational costs reduced £4.5m to £12.1m. This resulted in a 76% increase in operating profit to £11.9m, enabling an increase in the football budget of just under £1m to £20.7m. The overall net loss reduced from £15.3m to £10.6m.
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As previously reported, the club has complied with the Football League’s Financial Fair Play requirements.
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The club has sent a set of full accounts to all shareholders – including a detailed statement from chairman Tony Bloom – and has also taken the unique step of making the annual accounts publicly available to all supporters.
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Bloom, writing in his statement, commented, "I want to take this opportunity to look back on our first three years at the American Express Community Stadium and to give an update on our on-going strategy for the club's future.
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"By its nature, this statement is as much for our supporters as it is for our shareholders. We are all "stakeholders" in this great club – emotionally, financially or both."
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The chairman also sets out the board's vision for the future, giving context to the key strategic decisions made by the club, praises the hard work of club staff, and thanks fans for their continued support.
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He ends by saying, "We all have a significant part to play in realising an ambition that, despite just four seasons playing at the highest level in our club's entire history, is an exciting prospect for our club, our city, and the wider county of Sussex."
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Albion chief executive Paul Barber commented, "This set of results shows a significant improvement on the previous year's annual accounts, and that is thanks to a lot of hard work by our staff to reduce our costs and boost revenues.
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"The board is delighted with the reduction in our operating costs and the increase in turnover of more than £24m – thanks in no small part to the support of the fans, as we once again enjoyed the highest average attendance – but we continue to rely on the generosity of our chairman Tony Bloom.
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"In addition to Tony's interest-free funding to build the American Express Community Stadium and American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, he continues to cover the club's on-going losses and is committed to funding future losses.
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"Once again, on behalf of all fans, the board would like to place on record its sincere thanks to Tony for his incredibly generous personal support that continues to take the club forward."
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Click here to view a PDF of the full accounts as lodged with Companies House.[h=3]ALBION V brentford
[/h]saturday 17th january, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v ipswich
[/h]WEDNESDAY 21ST JANUARY, kick-off 7:45pm
[h=3]Albion v arsenal
[/h]SunDAY 25TH januARY, kick-off 4pm
Original article