Transfer charges triple Chelsea's first-half losses

Chelsea Village, the publicly quoted leisure group that owns the Premier League football club Chelsea, said yesterday its first-half loss almost tripled because of player trading costs as well as the difficult times experienced by the group's hotels and travel agency businesses.

The Chelsea chairman Ken Bates reported net losses for the six months ended 31 December had widened to £11.26m, or 6.6p a share, from £4.08m, or 2.3p, in the year-earlier period.

He said sales slipped 6.2 per cent to £53.6m, mainly due to the downturn in the travel agency business and its move from commission to management charges.

Mr Bates, who is anxious to conclude a money-raising exercise through an issue of new shares to some unidentified investors, warned that he could be getting tough in upcoming player contract negotiations. "The legacy of excessive player contractual costs and a moribund transfer market, exacerbated by the introduction of transfer windows, are significant factors impacting on our short- term performance," he said. "As these contractual arrangements unwind we aim to reduce our playing costs to a sustainable level commensurate with project revenue." The club, whose team are ranked fourth in the Premier League, booked a loss of £8.51m for player trading last year, more than twice the amount lost last year, even though there have been no major additions to the squad recently.

Chelsea shares were up 1p at 15p after the results. The shares have fallen 14.3 per cent this year, giving the club a market value of £25.4m.

The team are about to enter a crucial period during which they must maintain their fourth-placed position in the Premier League in order to qualify for next season's European Champions' League.

Meanwhile, the company that owns Bolton Wanderers, the Premiership football club that is battling against the threat of relegation, revealed yesterday that its shares will be delisted from the AIM at the end of the month. Consequently its financial adviser, Brewin Securities, resigned. "I think you might see more of this happening," one broker who deals in football shares said. "The amount of share trading in some of these stocks is minimal and there comes a time when it's just not worth paying for the share listing."

Burnden Leisure yesterday posted interim results showing a £2.5m loss on turnover of nearly £19m. The shares lost 1p to close at 1.37p, valuing the company at less than £2.5m.