Celtic have reported a pre-tax profit of £33.9million for the first half of the season.

Direct entry to the Champions League group stage helped the Glasgow club increase revenue by almost half to £76.5million in the six months to December 31.

The Scottish champions declared a trading profit of £28.1million and a transfer profit of £1.8million.

Peter Lawwell, who described his recent appointment as chairman as a “privilege”, stated that the club had around £50million in the bank at the turn of the year when transfer payments were taken into account.

Former chief executive Lawwell added that the annual profit for the whole season would be “significantly lower” than the interim figures.

“In line with the seasonality inherent in our earnings profile, the second half of the financial year will see losses incurred, as our earnings are biased toward the first half of the financial year,” he said.

“These losses however will be in part mitigated by gains on player trading realised from the January 2023 transfer window along with greater revenue from operating activities than was previously anticipated.

“The bias in earnings towards the first half of the financial year reflects the fact that UEFA distributions and UEFA match ticket income are largely recognised in the first half of the financial year and as in previous years, the second half of the financial year typically sees lower retail sales.”