Norwich City's majority shareholder Mark Attanasio is paving the way to potentially pump more cash into the Carrow Road club, as its annual accounts revealed a £13.3m operating loss.
The club's latest figures - released on Friday afternoon - showed turnover was up slightly, from £39.3m to £40.3m for the year ended June 2026.
But the Championship club also reported an operating loss of £42.3m, compared to a £25.5m loss in 2025.
That loss was reduced to £13.3m - similar to the previous year's post-player transfers figure - after taking into account the £46m the club made by selling players such as Josh Sargent, Borja Sainz, Jonny Rowe and, most controversially, Marcelino Núñez to Ipswich Town.
Marcelino Nunez (Image: PA)
Such a situation would appear to raise the prospect of Norwich City needing to keep selling star players to keep the books healthy.
But Norfolk FB Holdings LLC, headed up by Mr Attanasio, who also owns the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, is preparing a framework which would allow more money to be invested, while meeting financial rules.
At next month's annual general meeting, where shareholders are due to vote to approve the accounts, resolutions relating to the need to adhere to the Football League's squad cost ratio rules will also be voted on.
Norwich City's Carrow Road stadium (Image: Daniel Hambury/Focus Images Ltd)
Under those rules, a club’s squad cost must not exceed 85pc of its relevant turnover, plus certain permitted injections of equity funding - via the owner buying shares - from its owners.
The club says it will not know until later in the season whether or to what extent that extra injection will be needed for the 2026/27 season.
Norwich City fans (Image: Focus Images Ltd)
The club says it is "prudent" to seek shareholder approval to allot and issue a new class of preference share to the club’s majority shareholder, should a cash injection be needed this season or in future seasons.
The club says doing that now also avoids the need to arrange an extraordinary general meeting at a later date.
And having that flexibility could, potentially, mean the club would be in a better position to resist player sales.
City boss Philippe Clement (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
The latest accounts follow a campaign which saw the Canaries remain in the Championship for a fifth season.
Philippe Clement's remarkable second half of the season turnaround, following the departure of Liam Manning, was not quite enough to escape the division, with the Canaries finishing outside the play-offs in ninth.
The club said the £1m increase in its turnover was due to "resilient matchday and commercial performance", alongside extra money brought in by the club's FA Cup run, which ended with a 3-0 defeat to Daniel Farke's Leeds United in the fifth round.
Mo Toure (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
The club brought in new players, including Mohamed Touré, Ali Ahmed, Mathias Kvistgaarden, Jovon Makama, Pelle Mattsson, Jacob Wright, Vladan Kovačević and Paris Maghoma.
Wages and salaries increased from £38.9m to £49.6m for five directors, 221 football staff and 177 others.
Alongside the playing squad, the club invested £4.2m in capital infrastructure during the period, which included work at Carrow Road on the hospitality spaces, NR1, which used to be the Gunn Club, and Aria at the top of the Barclay Stand.
After accounting for finance income and finance costs, the club reported a total comprehensive loss of £21.9m, compared with a £20.2m the previous year.
The losses incurred during the current year resulted in net liabilities of £17.7m as of June 30, compared with net assets of £4.2m at the previous year end.
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