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Sheikh Mansour has overseen the club's annual loss of £97.9 million. Peter Byrne/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Ouch

Premier League champions City reveal £97.9 million losses

The figure still represents a significant improvement in comparison to last year, when they lost £197.5 million.

MANCHESTER CITY REVEALED they made an annual loss of £97.9 million ($157.9 million, 120.2 million euros) during their Premier League title-winning season.

While the figure would represent a massive problem for most clubs, it was actually a significant improvement for the big-spending Eastlands outfit, who lost £197.5 million 12 months ago.

City’s turnover last season was £231.1 million, the highest in the club’s history, and although the failure of Roberto Mancini’s team to progress from the Champions League group stage for the last two years has had an impact on turnover, the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners are still happy with the financial performance.

And they are confident even the huge losses confirmed will not have an impact on their ability to meet UEFA’s strict Financial Fair Play guidelines as £15 million comes from infrastructure and youth development costs.

City owner Sheikh Mansour clearly still has to put in his own cash to make the club viable in the short-term however, as the annual statement also confirms the “capital base of the club has also been strengthened through the issuing of £169 million in new equity during the year, avoiding debt-based funding and continuing to ensure that the club is virtually debt free”.

With plans for the state-of-the-art academy and training facility across the road from Eastlands now well advanced, club officials believe within the medium term that the club, who won the English title last season for the first time in 44 years, will be self-sustaining.

Chief executive Ferran Soriano said: “What I have found is a club on the verge of a historic transformation, reinforced by a genuine commitment to doing things well.

“It is a club with a rich history and the potential for an even brighter future.”

- © AFP, 2012

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