Everton suffer £6.7m annual loss despite record £79.7m turnover

The cost of Everton's pursuit of Champions League football was exposed yesterday as the club posted a record turnover of £79.7m for last season yet still suffered an overall operating loss of £6.7m. The figures come less than a week after the club's long-term future under Bill Kenwright and David Moyes was placed in doubt by the government's rejection of a proposed stadium move to Kirkby.

The latest financial results are for the year ending 31 May 2009 and Everton's most productive season in over a decade; courtesy of a second successive fifth-placed finish in the Premier League plus an FA Cup final. The increase in broadcasting revenue and gate receipts helped produce a record turnover, up £4m and 5.3% on the previous year, plus an operating profit of £6.3m excluding player trading. The wage bill rose to £49.1m, however, and the amortisation of players' registrations of £13m led to the overall loss of £6.7m.