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Championship leaders Coventry City have posted a pre-tax loss of £21.6m for the 2024-25 financial year.
Turnover increased by nearly £5m to just over £34m, boosted by increases in match receipts, broadcast revenue and commercial income as the club reached the semi-finals of the play-offs.
However, operating expenses grew by £5.6m to about £32m because of "continued investment in the playing squad", and the compensation costs of sacking Mark Robins in November 2024 and the hiring of Frank Lampard, which the club described as "exceptional".
Profit from player sales decreased by £20m to just over £3m on the previous financial year, in which Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer joined Sporting Lisbon and Sheffield United respectively.
The club said "significant external investment" along with reinvesting the Gyokeres and Hamer fees have enabled them to build a "meaningful squad value" whose estimated current market transfer value "vastly exceeds that which is held on the club's balance sheet".
The figures are in contrast to the club's £8.7m profit from 2023-24, the first full campaign following Doug King's takeover.
This set of accounts does not include the purchase of the club's stadium - the Coventry Building Society Arena - in August last year, which the club said at the time was a "pivotal moment" in their history.
Owner and executive chairman King said the goal was to "significantly reduce" the club's annual operating loss from 2026-27 onwards.
He added that would be done while "remaining competitive at the top end of the Championship" and "reaching our goal of a play-off berth three times in every five years".
"Whilst the Championship remains grossly distorted by the Premier League parachute payment scheme, this is the only realistic target," King said.
Under Lampard, Coventry look well set to go one better than last season's play-off heartbreak and seal a return to the Premier League after a 25-year absence.
With 12 games to go, the Championship leaders are five points clear of Middlesbrough in second and nine ahead of third-placed Millwall.