The Blues fell into the red at the halfway stage after investing a huge amount in strengthening its squad of players. In the six months to the end of February the first division club, which just missed out on a play off place, lost £2.62m before tax after spending a net £4.19m on players. Last time the group made a £2.68m pre-tax profit, mainly from receiving net transfer income of £1.4m. Turnover improved by £100,000 to £4.7m. Operating profit rose by a similar amount to £1.4m. Chairman David Sullivan said its 7th place in the league was the best for 12 years. He does not expect to spend much more on players next season but hopes to attract players on a no-fee basis thanks to the Bosman ruling.