Celtic have announced increased profits in their interim PLC report for the six months to December 2022.
The Parkhead side's key financial items showed that the club's revenue increased by 44.8 per cent to £76.5million compared to £52.9million in 2021.
Profit from trading was £28.1million (2021: £7.0million).
In a statement club chairman Peter Lawwell said: "I am honoured to present my first chairman’s statement on behalf of Celtic Football Club. Being back to chair the club that I have always supported and served for almost 18 years as CEO, is a privilege. I look forward to fulfilling the role, and playing my part in our Club going forward.
"The key factors driving the improvement in the underlying trading performance in the six months to 31 December 2022 compared to the same period last year, was the direct qualification to the UEFA Champions League Group stages. This was the key driver in our revenue increase over the same period last year which reflected UEFA Europa League Group stage participation.
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"Gains from player trading this year of £1.8m (2021: £25.8m) were notably lower, reflecting our strategy of assembling a new football playing squad under our football manager, Ange Postecoglou. Period end net cash at bank was £59.2m (2021: £25.6m). After adjusting for a net trading balance on prior inbound and outbound transfers, this sum reduces to £50.2m at December 2022 (2021: £39.7m).
"In line with the seasonality inherent in our earnings profile, the second half of the financial year will see losses incurred, as our earnings are biased toward the first half of the financial year. These losses however will be in part mitigated by gains on player trading realised from the January 2023 transfer window along with greater revenue from operating activities than was previously anticipated.
"The bias in earnings towards the first half of the financial year reflects the fact that UEFA distributions and UEFA match ticket income are largely recognised in the first half of the financial year and as in previous years, the second half of the financial year typically sees lower retail sales. Our outturn earnings can also be materially impacted by football success and the year end assessment of player registration carrying values.
"Taking all of this into consideration, we would expect our total outturn profit before tax for the year ending 30 June 2023 to be significantly lower than the result posted for the first six months of the financial year."
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