West Ham released their accounts for the year ended 31 May 2015 this evening on WHUFC.com
The accounts show turnover was up to £120.7m from £114.8m last year with an operating profit of £3m.
The accounts show £32.5m was spent on nine players last summer including the likes of Hammer of the Year Aaron Cresswell, top scorer Diafra Sakho and internationals Cheikhou Kouyate, Enner Valencia Alex Song and Carl Jenkinson.
Away from the pitch, there was a 13.7% increase in retail sales, achieving a club record high in turnover of £7.3m, while commercial and sponsorship increased by 6.5%, achieving £14.6m of revenue – another Club record.
West Ham United Joint-Chairman David Sullivan said: “My Board and I are again satisfied with the achievements we have made this season (2014/15). The highlights for us being:
• Retaining our Premier League status in what was a very competitive year;
• Making huge progress in our preparation for our move to the Olympic Stadium for the 2016/17 season;
• Our fantastic support despite a disappointing second half of the season.
• Our recruitment of a new First Team Management team, led by Slaven Bilic. We would like to thank Sam Allardyce and his staff for their work at the Club over the last four years.
“At the start of the season we invested a net total of £32.5m and bought Mauro Zarate, Enner Valencia, Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate, Diafra Sakho, Diego Poyet and Morgan Amalfitano, and also took Carl Jenkinson and Alex Song on loan from Arsenal and Barcelona respectively. The new players all had a positive impact, particularly in the first half of the season.
“Subsequent to the year end, we have further invested in the playing staff for the 2015/16 season with the significant investment into the purchases of Pedro Obiang, Dimitri Payet, Angelo Ogbonna, Michail Antonio, Nikica Jelavic, Stephen Hendrie and Darren Randolph. We have also taken Carl Jenkinson, Manuel Lanzini, Victor Moses and Alex Song on loan, and extended the contracts of some key players; Diafra Sakho, Aaron Cresswell and Winston Reid.
“This was truly a season of two halves, with a scintillating and uplifting start and then a disappointing period after Christmas. Hopefully we will, in the 2015/16 season, have more results like the first half of 2014/15.
“Once again, this season, our last at the Boleyn Ground after 112 years of playing here, will bring its own challenges, but we continue to believe we will deliver both on and off the pitch by investing in the team, the brand and managing the business well. We all hope it will be one of our best seasons ever.”