Arsenal's parent public limited company has produced 'healthy' interim financial results over the six months to the end of November 2005.
Group turnover for Arsenal Holdings plc increased to £57m, up from £49.3m a year earlier, while pre-tax profit was up to £14.7m from £2.7m.
The departure of captain Patrick Vieira to Juventus over the summer saw a leap in profit from player transfers to £13.5m, up from just £800,000 for the same period the previous year.
Most of the London club's current financial commitments are tied up with their move to the new Emirates Stadium in Ashburton Grove.
The construction and fit-out of the 60,000-seater venue continues to progress on schedule to be opened in the summer, with more than 18,000 season tickets already allocated, all executive boxes reserved and pre-sale of `Club Level' seating at 90%.
Work behind the scenes is also ongoing with Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland to progress plans for the refinancing of the senior bank loan - £195.7m - used to fund the Emirates Stadium development into a longer-term, 25-year bond structure at a lower interest rate.
Meanwhile, there has been a successful launch of the sales process which will see some 711 residential apartments replace Arsenal's current home in the Highbury Square development.
