Manchester City post first profit since 2008

LONDON (Reuters) – Manchester City, who were sanctioned last year for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, have posted an annual profit for the first time since the club was bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed in 2008.

The Premier League club released its annual report for the 2014-15 season on Wednesday.

“Of most significance in this reporting period, is the posting of a 10.7 million pounds ($16.52 million) bottom line profit, the club’s first to have been achieved since the 2008 acquisition,” City said in a statement.

The report also stated that the club had posted record annual revenues of 352 million pounds.

“To put things in their simplest terms, we are now a profitable business with no debt and no outstanding restrictions,” chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in the statement.

City have been notoriously high spenders in the transfer market since Sheikh Mansour bought the club seven years ago.

They were fined 60 million euros ($68.61 million) last year for breaching UEFA’s FFP rules, while they also had their squad capped for that season’s Champions League.

The FFP rules, which were set up by the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in 2012, are designed to limit financial losses and make football clubs more financially stable.

($1 = 0.6478 pounds)

($1 = 0.8745 euros)

(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Ken Ferris)