Chelsea make a profit for the first time since Russian billionaire owner Roman ... - Telegraph.co.uk

While his taste for expensive talents such as Eden Hazard and Oscar remains, the Russian is likely to continue to underwrite losses for some time.

But while Abramovich cannot bank on his team winning the Champions League every season, the improved commercial performance raises the prospect that the club's reliance on his apparently bottomless indulgence may be easing.

Thanks to on-field success and their commercial programmes, the club posted record revenues of £255.7 million in 2011-12, exceeding Arsenal's turnover for the first time since the North London club moved to the Emirates Stadium.

The Champions League win contributed a relatively modest £9 million increase in revenue – victory in Munich was worth £48 million in broadcast revenue and prize money, compared to £39 million earned in 2010-11 – and some of this will have been offset by bonuses.

The club said they had recorded a profits "in the transfer market" of £28.8 million, though this is not a cash figure and includes the book value of transfer fees accounted for over the length of their original contract.

Juan Mata and Gary Cahill were the main signings in the period covered by the accounts, while Yuri Zhirkov was the most significant departure. He joined Anzhi Makhachkala in 2011 for a reported £13 million, with a book value of around £9 million contributing to the trading balance. The £57 million paid for Oscar and Hazard this summer are not included in these figures.

A major contributor to the transformation of a major loss to profit is the absence of the huge compensation payments made in 2010-11. The club paid £42 million in severance deals to Luiz Felipe Scolari and his coaching team that year. The payment prompted a change of policy, so while Chelsea sacked two managers last season – Carlo Ancelotti and Andre Villas-Boas – they did not receive lump sums. Instead, they were both kept on the payroll until they found new employment.

Coach Roberto Di Matteo welcomed the financial showing, but the task of preparing his team for Sunday's clash with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge will not have been helped by reports from Le 10 Sport that Paris St-Germain coach Ancelotti had been in contact with Ashley Cole about a possible move to the French giants.

Cole, 31, who is in the final year of his contract, will miss the Liverpool game with a hamstring injury but John Terry is likely to return after the expiry of his four-game ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

Liverpool have won their last two Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge and won three of their four encounters last season.

"They are a little bit of our bogey team, they seem to play exceptionally well against us," Di Matteo acknowledged.