Arsenal top of the league for finances

Arsenal’s status as English football’s star performers on the financial field was underlined by the announcement Friday of healthy profit figures and a sharp reduction in the London club’s debt.

On the day that heavily-indebted Portsmouth were set to become the first Premier League club to be placed in administration, the Gunners revealed pre-tax profits of 35.2 million pounds (53.5 million dollars) for the six months to the end of November, 2009.

Net debt was reduced from 332.8 million pounds to 203.6 million as the club continued to reap the cash-generating benefits of the move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium and associated property development.

Arsenal’s old ground has been converted into a residential development and, after initial sluggishness due to the downturn in London’s property market, sales have accelerated, with 261 apartments sold in the six-month period, raising 96.6 million pounds.

Non-executive chairman Peter Hill-Wood said the money raised by the property business would be reinvested in retaining or acquiring players and further development of the 60,000-seat Emirates, which generates higher match-day revenues than any other English stadium.

“There has been remarkable progress at Highbury Square over the last 12 months and it is clear that the next couple of years will see our property activities delivering surplus cash,” Hill-Wood said.

“This is very good news, although I would not want to speculate on the exact quantum or timing of this.

“How we will use this surplus remains undecided but, in addition to investing in the team, I think we will examine investment in club projects and infrastructure, both in and around Emirates Stadium, which will provide a long-lasting benefit to the club and our tremendous, loyal supporters.”

Arsenal’s improving financial position contrasts sharply with that of rivals Manchester United, whose debts have increased steadily since the US-based Glazer family acquired control of the club in 2005.

The most recent accounts for United’s parent company, Red Football Joint Venture, showed that it had debts of 719 million pounds.

Those figures have sparked a protest movement among United supporters who fear that the cost of servicing United’s debt is acting as a brake on investment in the team.

Similar concerns have been express by fans of Liverpool, whose American owners have been forced to shelve plans for an Arsenal-style move to a new, cash-generative stadium.