Chief Executive: Everyone's working hard to bring success

CELTIC’S season continues to focus on the bid to bring silverware back to the club. Neil Lennon’s side, currently leading the SPL by five points, are still in the hunt for all three domestic trophies, and are entering a crucial phase of the campaign, with a number of important league and cup games on the horizon.

Ahead of the first of those – a home SPL match against second-place Rangers – the club’s interim results for the six months to December 2010 were published on Monday.

The results show a profit, before tax, of £7.06million, compared to a figure of £1.27m the previous year.

Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “Overall, we are satisfied with the results. Every penny that has come in has been reinvested in transfers and players’ wages and running costs of the club, and that will be reflected in the year-end results.”

And the Chief Executive reiterated the point made by Chairman John Reid in his statement that accompanied the results regarding the club’s debt, which currently stands at £9.09m, explaining that “it will come back down to normal levels. This is just a temporary spike.”

In the statement, the Chairman said: “Since 31 December 2010 substantial transfer payments have been received, which has reduced our debt.

“Assuming season ticket revenue receipts for season 2011/12 to be similar to this year and that other commitments to us are honoured when due, we currently anticipate year end net bank debt will be significantly lower than at the half-year.”

There has been considerable investment in the Celtic squad at the start of this campaign, with the likes of Joe Ledley, Beram Kayal, Efrain Juarez, Gary Hooper, Cha Du Ri, Daniel Majstorovic and Emilio Izaguirre all arriving at the club.

And the Youth Academy, which the club has invested heavily in over a number of years, is continuing to pay dividends, with James Forrest the latest player to make the breakthrough into the first-team, while another former Academy graduate, Charlie Mulgrew, returned to the club in the summer and is playing his part in the team’s bid for trophy success.

“It’s very early days and we haven’t won anything yet,” said Peter Lawwell, “but hopefully all the hard work that is going on behind the scenes will bear fruit.”