Arsenal have announced a loss of £6.2m for the six months up to the end of last November. The Gunners cite one-off exceptional costs of £21.4m relating to their move to the Emirates Stadium as the reason.But during the same period, turnover rocketed by almost 77%, which Arsenal attribute to increased ground capacity. Chairman Peter Hill-Wood said: "The stadium project's objective was to provide Arsenal with financial strength to compete at the highest level."
Over the same period last year, the Gunners made a £9.6m profit after tax. Pre-tax profits before net finance charges are up year on year from £14.3m to £19.6m and operating profits before depreciation and player trading leaped by 150%, from £8m to £20m.
Turnover also rocketed from £57m to £100.8m. Hill-Wood added: "I believe the results for the group's first period in its new home demonstrate we have already achieved the milestone of providing the financial strength.
"The stadium has provided improved match-day facilities and tickets for a far great number of supporters." Arsenal do not expect to reach their final targets for operational efficiency at the new stadium until the end of the season.
