Everton announce £500,000 operating loss

Everton fans protest against Bill Kenwright outside Goodison Park in September

Everton have announced an operating loss of £500,000 before player trading, despite a 3.7% increase in turnover.

The Toffees released details of their accounts on Friday for the financial year ending 31 May, showing net debt remained stable at £44.9m.

"David Moyes [manager] is fully aware of where we are in terms of available funds," said chairman Bill Kenwright.

"He is appreciative of the fact that every penny we can find moves to his transfer kitty."

Kenwright added: "Whilst he would obviously like more, he has a sound sense of business and accepts the parameters within which we must operate.

"Hopefully the day will come soon when I will happily - even enthusiastically - hand over control of our beloved club to a substantially wealthy individual or well-funded investment group."

The announcement comes after Everton defender Phil Jagielka said the club cannot advance because they "haven't got any money".

"You see other teams doing so well who finished below us before, so you can see the fans' frustration," Jagielka, 29, told told Football Focus.

"We can't buy expensive players to take the squad to that next level. All we can do is work with what we have."

Moyes has been working within considerable financial constraints and, since the period covered by the figures, he has only brought in free transfers or loan players such as Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi.

This is despite selling Mikel Arteta, Jermaine Beckford and Yakubu for a combined total of around £15m.

This season has seen a fans' group stage demonstrations against what they regard as Everton's stagnation under Kenwright.