Chelsea upbeat despite further heavy losses

Chelsea today announced a total loss of £70.9m (€83m) for the financial year ending June 30, 2010.

The Blues revealed their operating loss had reduced from £72.3m to £68.6m as they bid to fall in line with UEFA’s new Financial Fair Play Rules.

Transfer fees were the main contributor to the loss, with the club declaring a positive cash flow of £3.8million, the first time such an outcome had been achieved in the Roman Abramovich era.

Last year had seen a net outflow of £16.9m.

Group turnover was up £2.5m to £205.8m.

Chief executive Ron Gourlay said: “The reduction in operating losses and increased sales in 2009-10 shows that we are moving in the right direction, especially when viewed against the difficult macroeconomic environment.

“The club is in a strong position to meet the challenges of UEFA Financial Fair Play initiatives which will be relevant to the financial statements to be released in early 2013.

Chairman Bruce Buck added: “That the club was cash generative in the year when we recorded a historic FAPL and FA Cup double is a great encouragement and demonstrates significant progress as regards our financial results.”