Celtic announce £17m pre-tax profit as revenue, costs and liabilities increase
- Published
Champions League participation last season contributed to increased Celtic profit
Celtic can "manage the disappointment" of failing to reach the Champions League after declaring a pre-tax profit of £17m for the year to June, says chairman Ian Bankier.
Brendan Rodgers' side reached the group stage last term and won the domestic treble for the second consecutive year.
However, they lost to AEK Athens in this season's qualifiers and will play in the Europa League group stage.
Bankier said, external the figures reflect a year "in which everything went well".
The pre-tax profit is £10m more than the previous year, while revenue for 2017-18 was also up 12% to £102m.
However, operating expenses rose 14% to £87m, with total liabilities up 48% to £77m.
Player acquisitions of £16.6m - including the club's record purchase of Odsonne Edouard - were offset by sales of £16.5m.
That figure was made up of the departures of Stuart Armstrong and Erik Sviatchenko and the receipt of a 10% sell-on fee after Virgil van Dijk's £75m move from Southampton to Liverpool in January.
Moussa Dembele's £19.2m move to Lyon - a record sale for a Scottish club - took place after the accounting period.
Celtic 'remain watchful of events'
In February, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell predicted "significant change" in European football and suggested Scottish clubs could be "regular participants" in the Europa League in six years' time.
This month, Uefa announced plans for a third European competition from 2021.
Celtic started this term's Champions League campaign in the first qualifying round - a round earlier than the previous two seasons - and 19 of the 26 teams who gained direct entry to the group stage via their league position play in England, France, Germany, Italy or Spain.
Bankier referenced his sentiments from the previous year's accounts regarding Celtic's "vulnerability to the growing financial power of a number of key constituencies within the European game".
And he added: "These circumstances are unchanged and we remain watchful of events that unfold.
"Through Peter Lawwell's continued involvement in the Board of the European Club Association, the Club Competitions Committee at Uefa and the Professional Football Strategy Council of Uefa, the club and the game in Scotland are well represented in this very important arena."