High hopes: Chelsea chief executive Peter
Kenyon
Chelsea insist they will break
even next year despite announcing massive pre-tax losses yet again.
Since Roman Abramovich took over in 2003, the Blues have posted a
string of staggering financial results.
The latest revelations show that they made a £65.7million
pre-tax loss for the year ending June 2008. And yet chief executive
Peter Kenyon continues to tell onlookers that they remain hopeful
of becoming self-sufficient by 2010.
Kenyon's claims have been met with raised eyebrows given the
club's history under Abramovich. And Sportsmail has compiled his
key quotes on their financial results from the past five years.
Big buy: Kenyon with £30m flop Andriy
Shevchenko
2003-4 (£88m pre-tax
loss)
'Two years ago we were seen as streets paved with gold. That is
over. Chelsea is now being run properly. Roman is at Chelsea for
the long run. He has bought in completely to the vision of making
this club one of the biggest and best in Europe. This was not a
vanity purchase for the owner. It's a serious investment with a
long-term business plan.'
2004-5 (£140m pre-tax loss)
'These figures reflect the continuing restructuring of the
business which we began in 2003-4. The rise is down to some
exceptional items that were necessary to help us in our aim to
break even by 2009-10.'
2005-6 (£80.2m pre-tax loss)
'These figures demonstrate the business is moving in the right
direction. That positive trend will only continue as, for example,
this year end does not take into account the benefits of our adidas
deal. Last year we took some painful decisions in order to help us
achieve our long-term business aims. This year's figures prove that
was the correct decision. With increasing sponsorship income,
television revenue, and ongoing success on the field, those
positive trends are projected to continue.'
2006-7 (£74.8m pre-tax loss)
'Everything we've been doing at Chelsea over the past
four-and-a-half years is predicated on the owner being supportive
to Chelsea - he clearly has been and he continues to be. We've
spent an awful lot on our academy and one of our longer-term
business plans is to ensure we have this mixture of home-grown
talent along with buying some of the best footballers from anywhere
in the world. Our long-term target of operating profit break even
by 2009/10 remains ambitious but we are determined to meet it or
get as close as we can.'
2007-8 (£65.7m pre-tax loss)
'There is no doubt that the positive upward trends of turnover
and the continued reduction in losses shows that Chelsea is
building a strong business base to build on in what will be
challenging times. We have consistently advocated the aim of
self-sufficiency which has always been supported by the owner. We
are hopeful of being close to these targets in the time-frames we
have set given the underlying strengths of the business. This is
the fifth set of financial accounts since the takeover and Chelsea
has made huge progress during that period as a football club and a
business.'
