EPL side West Ham United's "net debt has increased" to £77M ($128M) and owners David Sullivan and David Gold "have loaned the club" another £10.5M ($17.4M) to try to secure its Premier League status, according to the PA.
The club's annual accounts for the year ending May 31 reveal that West Ham enjoyed record revenue of £89.8M and "had more commercial income than ever before," but the club still made a loss of £3.5M. It was a significant improvement on the £24M loss of the season before, when they were in the Championship, and the club believes the move to the Olympic Stadium in '16 "will herald a new era of financial success."
The co-owners have loaned West Ham a total of £45.7M and in the summer refinanced the club's bank loans -- these now total £26.7M ($44.3M), payable in Jan. '16, plus a further £15M ($25M) the club "took out on a short-term basis secured on broadcast income." West Ham Vice-Chair Karren Brady said that new Premier League spending controls would "limit the ability of clubs to over-extend themselves on player costs" and will help West Ham increase profitability. The accounts show West Ham's wage bill increased to £56.2M ($93.2M) from £41.6M (PA, 1/27).
