LONDON (ShareCast) - Scottish football club Celtic said financial performance during the half-year has been ‘exceptionally good’ due to a number of favourable factors.

“Thanks partly to the coincidence of a number of favourable factors, Celtic's financial performance during the half-year ending December 31 2006 has been exceptionally good,” it said.

Group turnover increased by 41.6% to £46.8m as the club played three more home games, two of which were European ties.

Operating profit rose from £74,000 to £11.9m and after taking account of gains on player transfers of £7.1m, pre-tax profit rose to £17.9m compared with the loss of £1m last year.

The group said participation in the European Champions League had a transforming effect on the results compared to a year ago, while it has also benefited from transfer activities during the period.

Revenues from ticket sales increased by 42% to £21.6m and income
from multimedia was up by 144% to £14.1m. Merchandise sales were down around 10% due to only two kits being launched in the period, as opposed to three in the same period last year.

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