Wolves: Championship leaders report £23m losses from 2016-17 season

Wolves reported a drop in season ticket sales in 2015-16, but average league attendances at Molineux rose to 21,572

Wolves recorded a pre-tax loss of more than £23m for 2016-17, their first season under Chinese conglomerate Fosun International's ownership.

In comparison, Wolves' yearly accounts on Companies House show they made a profit of more than £7.5m in 2015-16.

The Championship leaders say they "significantly invested" in players in the 12 months up to 31 May 2017, twice paying club-record transfer fees.

The club also changed managers three times during that period.

Wolves say the £23.18m loss last season was also partly "attributed" to investment in the club's Compton training base.

Their fall in turnover, which was down from £27.2m in the 12 months up to May 2016 to £23.8m for the same period in 2017, was said to "reflect" Wolves' first season without parachute payments from the Premier League.

Additionally, the club reported a downturn in profits from player sales last season, with £2.2m coming in as opposed to £9.9m the preceding year.

Before the 2016-17 season, in which Wolves finished 15th in the Championship, Wolves last made a loss in 2012-13 when relegated to League One, having dropped from the Premier League a year earlier.

A Wolves statement said Fosun have always felt that expenditure "on and off the pitch" was "essential" to ensure Wolves could compete with other clubs "of a similar size and ambition".

"They believe that with sound investment, made with the club's long-term future at heart, they can realise their ambition for the club to win promotion to the Premier League, where it can enjoy continued growth and sustained success," the statement said.