Thursday 27 February 2020 14:48, UK
Liverpool say they are seeing "sustained growth across all areas of the club" after announcing a pre-tax profit of £42m and increased turnover for last season which saw them win their sixth European Cup.
In the club's annual financial accounts for the year to May 31, 2019, published on Thursday, Liverpool announced that turnover had increased by £78m to £533m, with media revenue increasing by £41m to £261m.
Commercial revenue was also up by £34m to £188m and match revenue increased by £3.5m to £84m.
The club spent a record £223m on Alisson, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri during this period, with players including Danny Ings and Dominic Solanke leaving Anfield.
Liverpool's chief operating officer, Andy Hughes, said: "This continued strengthening of the underlying financial sustainability of the club is enabling us to make significant investments both in player recruitment and infrastructure.
"Being able to reinvest over £220m on players during this financial period is a result of a successful business strategy, particularly the significant uplift in commercial revenues.
"The cost of football however does continue to rise in transfers and associated fees but what's critical for us is the consistency of our financial position, enabling us to live within our means and continue to run a sustainable football club."
Liverpool also invested £50m in the new Kirkby training ground, which is due to open in July, while the club are on course to raise Anfield's capacity to 61,000 in time for the start of the 2022/23 season.
"What we're seeing is sustained growth across all areas of the club which is aligned to the recent performance on the pitch," Hughes added.
"Since this reporting period we have continued to reinvest in the club's infrastructure, and we look forward to the opening of our new training base at Kirkby ahead of the new season which will provide first-class facilities for our players and staff.
"We have also just completed a second-phase consultation on a proposed expansion of the Anfield Road Stand which could see an increase in the stadium's capacity, giving even more supporters the opportunity to see the team. There is more work to do and, importantly, we will continue our dialogue with all key stakeholders including local residents, businesses and community groups.
"These financial results and this sustained period of solid growth is testament to our ownership, Fenway Sports Group, who continue to support the club's ambitions and continue to reinvest revenues both in strengthening the playing squad and the club's infrastructure to build for the future."
Liverpool have continued to thrive in the period that has followed the end of the latest accounting period.
Jurgen Klopp's men have won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup since then and are on course to secure their first title of the Premier League era.
They have also generated a profit on their subsequent transfer dealings and last month signed a lucrative new multi-year kit deal with Nike.
Former Liverpool chief executive officer Ian Ayre believes the foundations are firmly in place for the club to continue to grow on and off the field.
"John Henry (Liverpool's principal owner) said right in his first week at Liverpool, to us and publicly, 'I want to build to win and keep winning'," Ayre told Sky Sports News.
"I think that is absolutely the intent and there is a good product and good process in place to do that.
"They (the club's owners) have always been on a very clear path. It's just that a lot of people didn't believe in it until more recently, but I am not surprised by it."
