Wembley Stadium has suffered another huge pre-tax loss of £31.1million and is not expected to break even until 2014, which means Coldplay will probably have played there on a second consecutive world tour before Wembley manages to pay off its rebuilding-cost debts.
According to the Daily Mail today, accounts released by the home of England football for the year to December 31, 2008 revealed the massive losses, which followed a £53.3m pre-tax loss in 2007. The 90,000-capacity ground, rebuilt for £800m and reopened in 2007, made a pre-tax operational profit of £5.9m in 2008.
But Wembley had to pay out £26.2m in interest on its £300m outstanding loans. It also wrote off another £10.8m in ‘signing fees’ adding up to a pre-tax loss of £31.1m. Stadium chiefs are optimistic of increased revenue this year, with 2.5million people flocking to the stadium since March for 34 events including football matches and concerts by Coldplay, U2, Take That, Oasis.
In the red: Wembley Stadium won't break even until 2014
Photos of Coldplay at Wembley stadium, London, UK (19th September 2009):
Pictures by busybeeburns
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