In the six months to November 30 2010, Arsenal announced an overall loss of £2.5million but their football-related profit is £9.3million, compared to £18million for the same period a year before. Gazidis said the Gunners were in a "very healthy financial position" but the Arsenal Supporters' Trust fear the £4.5million rise in the wage bill will lead to the club paying more than 50 per cent of their football-related turnover on player salaries for the first time since moving into the new stadium. The rise in the wage bill is due in part to a deliberate policy of signing the squad up to long, lucrative contracts. Gazidis said: "We've got a very young team, the average age against Barcelona was just 23 years old. What we're focused on is making sure we keep the key talents in the team together and signing them to long-term contracts." Arsenal have identified their lack of commercial income as an area for potential growth, hardly surprisingly given that they earned £15.7million from this over six months, less than a third of Manchester United's commercial income. Gazidis added: "There has been a significant investment on the field and the other part of our investment has been off the field. In boosting our capabilities, particularly in the commercial area, so that we can grow our global commercial income over the next four or five years, re-invest all the money we make back into the team and make sure we continue to be ahead of the curve, continue to be healthy and continue to drive forward." Gazidis added that all at the club were "desperately disappointed" at the Carling Cup final defeat by Birmingham. The overall £2.5million loss for the business compares to a £29.2million profit over the same six-month period in 2009 with the drop being mainly due to a significant in income from sales of flats in the club's Highbury Square development. Transfer income was also down and there were two fewer home matches in the first half of this season compared to the previous year. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust warned that they did not want to see rises in players' salaries passed on in ticket prices. A statement from the Trust said: "Arsenal's football costs are growing faster than their football revenues. The wage bill is set to increase by almost £10million this financial year on top of a similar increase the year before. We anticipate that by year end the wages to turnover ratio will have risen above the 50 per cent for the first time since the move to the Emirates. "Players' wages are an issue across the football world and if other clubs continue to ignore both the spirit and the law of UEFA's financial fair play regulations then it will be supporters who end up paying the price. "The AST has today urged Ivan Gazidis not to pass on the increased costs of running the business, including player wages, to Arsenal fans. We already face an increase in season-ticket prices due to the VAT increase and fear any further increases will price some fans out of the Emirates." Even if Arsenal's wage bill does rise by £10million the club will still be some way behind both Manchester clubs and Chelsea.
