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English Premier League clubs make profits again after 15 years

Xinhua, March 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

English Premier League clubs posted a pre-tax profit last season for the first time in 15 years thanks to surging television cash and a slowing of wage growth.

According to a report released by business advisory firm Deloitte on Thursday, the 20 teams in 2013-14 generated a combined pre-tax profit of 283 million US dollars -- the first profit since 1999.

The 2013-14 season was the start of three-year television deals worth more than 8 billion US dollars for the world's richest soccer league.

Despite the huge rise in revenue, clubs have exercised a deal of restraint in their spending on player wages, which grew by six percent to 2.8 billion US dollars. The wages-to-revenue ratio fell to 58 percent -- the lowest since the 1998-99 season, when the clubs were last collectively in profit.

"In the first year of the preceding two broadcast deals, 56 percent and 81 percent of respective revenue growth was absorbed by wage costs," said Dan Jones from Deloitte's Sports Business Group.

"This time it is less than 20 percent. Over the previous 10 seasons wages grew by around nine percent per year, which is higher than the average annual revenue growth of seven percent over that period, demonstrating further what a remarkable turnaround the 2013-14 figures represent," he added.

But it comes at a time when Premier League clubs are struggling in European competitions.

There are no Premier League teams in the Champions League quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons and no English teams in the last eight of any European tournament for the first time since 1993. Endi