QPR cut losses by 85% to £9.8m despite 2013 relegation

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes took over the club in August 2011

Premier League club Queens Park Rangers have cut their losses by 85% to £9.8m for the year ending May 2014 despite spending 2013-2014 in the Championship.

Rangers lost £65.4m in the year to May 2013 when they were relegated.

The club say £60m of shareholder loans have been written off. Spending was also reduced by £22m, mainly because of lower player costs.

The Football League is expected to state QPR's Financial Fair Play (FFP) position within the next week.

If the figures announced today are ratified, it would mean a small fine, rather than the huge one that had been anticipated if losses were comparable to 12 months ago.

However, QPR's FFP accounts had to be filed by 1 December and the Football League has confirmed they are still the subject of discussion: "The treatment of certain items in those accounts, and how the League's FFP rules should be applied to them, remains a matter of ongoing discussion between QPR and The Football League."

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has presided over huge investment in the transfer market since becoming the club's majority shareholder in August 2011.

But with their Premier League place in jeopardy once more this season, with the club in 17th place in the table, level on 22 points with third-from-bottom Burnley, Fernandes outlined a new approach following the resignation of Harry Redknapp as manager last month.

"Our recruitment policy at QPR is changing," he said. "This is a new strategy for us.

"We want to develop a philosophy of buying young, hungry players who can go on to forge decent careers with us."