Aston Villa haved announced losses of almost £54m for the year ended 31 May 2011, up from £37.6m. American owner Randy Lerner has put £25m of his own money into the club over the past two years to keep it on an even keel.
The figure includes the money spent to bring Darren Bent to the club in January last year, but does not include the sales of Ashley Young to Manchester United and Stewart Downing to Liverpool which went through last year.
Aston Villa haved announced losses of almost £54m for the year ended 31 May 2011, up from £37.6m. American owner Randy Lerner has put £25m of his own money into the club over the past two years to keep it on an even keel.
The figure includes the money spent to bring Darren Bent to the club in January last year, but does not include the sales of Ashley Young to Manchester United and Stewart Downing to Liverpool which went through last year.
There was an unexpected £12m burden placed on the club’s finances relating to the enforced departure through illness of then-manager Gérard Houllier and his backroom staff. The compensation costs paid to Birmingham City for the acquisition of Alex McLeish, thought to be £2m, are not included in the accounts.
There were record revenues of £92m with commercial income increasing by 15.9 per cent and total income by 1.3 per cent. There was a £8.3m reduction in bank borrowings.
Chief financial officer Robin Russell commented, ‘Given the challenging economic environment that we have been experiencing in the West Midlands and indeed globally, we are pleased with the positive trends in our financial performance.’ The club is satisfied that it can comply with Uefa’s financial fair play requirements.