Chelsea Football Club has said it made a profit of £1.4m ($2.2m) for the financial year ending on June 30, 2012, the first time the club has made a profit since Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, took over as owner in 2003.
The West London club also recorded a record group turnover of £255.7m.
The team, which won the Champions League last season as well as the FA Cup, are second in the Premier League.
The profit comes after a £67.7m loss in the previous financial year.
Chelsea says it is in a strong position to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play criteria for the coming seasons, which require clubs over a fixed period to achieve a break-even figure when expenditure is measured against income from football-related activities.
The increase in turnover puts them above Arsenal in the money league and in fifth place in the world behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
Arsenal’s figure, released two months ago, saw overall turnover fall to £243m from £255m, but profits were £30.6m.
The Stamford Bridge club’s statement also said that debt of some £166.6m was turned into equity during the course of the year “making Chelsea FC plc debt free.”
Abramovich took control of Chelsea in June 2003, when he bought the club from then-owner, Ken Bates.
Since he took over the club has won ten major trophies – the Champions League, three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and two League Cups.
In the year ending June 2005, Chelsea posted a record financial loss of £140m (€165m).
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