St Mirren most profitable club for 2007/08 season

The SPL has reported a record-breaking profit, generating 23million pounds for the 2007/08 season, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

St Mirren are the SPL's most profitable club with £11m, due to the sale of their ground to Tesco for £9.2m.

Celtic have the highest wage bill at £39m, a 53% wage-to-turnover ratio.

Hearts are the only club in the SPL to report a loss, despite the sale of Craig Gordon to Sunderland for £9m in January 2007, while Inverness and Falkirk operated with no debt during the same counting period.

Rangers' operating figures were boosted by the sale of Alan Hutton to Tottenham Hotspur but the Ibrox outfit were the only club in the SPL to report an increase in net debt, up £5m on the previous season to £21.6m.

The SPL attracted slightly lower crowds during the 2007/08 season with average attendance figures down 3% from the prior season to 184,297.

Much of the SPL's profits are derived from the television deal agreed with Setanta representing £13m per season - or close to £1m per club.

For the smaller clubs in the league, the Setanta income represents 20-30% of their operating income.