Post by Taxigirl on Feb 13, 2004 18:11:39 GMT
Celtic have bucked the trend in Scottish football by announcing improved financial results.
The club, 11 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League, revealed turnover had increased to £36.01m for the six months to 31 December.
That compared favourably with £30.01m for the corresponding period in 2002.
While the debt was down nearly £4m to £18m and operating profits were up from £200,000 to £3.3m, a loss before taxation remained of £2.86m.
However, that loss for the second half of 2002 was down from £5.64m.
Celtic plc chairman Brian Quinn, who last month announced that up to 30 jobs would go on the non-footballing side of the club, said: "Participation in the first stage of the Uefa Champions League, together with a strong performance in domestic competition, combined to produce improved financial results for the company compared to the same period last year.
"Qualification for the Champions League sustained the excitement generated by last season's Uefa Cup campaign, from which the company benefited on several fronts.
"Off the field, Celtic's reputation continues to grow.
"Our supporters won both the Uefa and Fifa fair play awards, an honour unprecedented in European and World Cup football."
Livingston last week became the third club in the SPL to go into administration and all the others are experiencing financial problems.
"The difficulty in the football sector to which I have drawn attention in our previous annual and interim report are now striking clubs with full force," said Quinn.
"We are not free of these pressures at Celtic. We intend to maintain the quality of the football squad, but we are aware that we must match our cost with sustainable revenues.
"The challenge we face is to improve our financial position while continuing to build the club's reputation by regular participation in European competition."
Celtic just missed out on the knockout stage of the Champions League but have qualified for the Uefa Cup once more.