BLACKBURN Rovers’ annual accounts, which show a £42.1m loss, are now available to the public.

The accounts were sent to shareholders last month leading the club to confirm the huge deficit Rovers made last season.

And now they can be downloaded from the the Companies House website.

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The accounts back up the assertion made by Rovers finance director Mike Cheston and managing director Derek Shaw to the Lancashire Telegraph that the losses were ‘distorted to the tune of £16m’ to give the club a stronger chance of having its transfer embargo lifted.

Rovers will be prevented from paying fees for new players until the summer at least after breaking Financial Fair Play rules that stated Championship clubs could not post more than an £8m loss for last season.

Shaw admitted as far back as October 2013 that the club had little chance of dipping below that figure. Ewood Park bosses therefore included certain provisions in the accounts for the 2013-14 campaign.

The provisions included summer pay-offs to players like Dickson Etuhu, who had two years remaining on his reported £36,000-per-week contract, and David Goodwillie.

Rovers will have their transfer embargo lifted at the end of the current 2014/15 campaign if they prove to the Football League they are working toward the maximum permitted loss of £6m.

A statement in the accounts reads: “Due to the fact that the club suffered relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2011/12 season and have not returned since, the directors have considered it necessary to make payments of £6.6m to achieve player disposals during the year.

“In addition, the directors have undertaken a review of the club’s assets and liabilities at the year end, and consequently an exceptional, one-off impairment of £3.2m has been made against the value of player registrations at the year end, as well as a further exceptional, one-off provision of £6.4m for onerous player contracts.

“Therefore a total of £16.2m has been charged to the profit and loss account in the year as a result of this exercise, which is considered by the directors to be important in its efforts to return the club to a sound financial footing.”

The accounts also show:

  • Net debt shot up from £54.5m to £79.8m, £58.6m of which is owed to Rovers owners Venky’s in the form of an interest-free loan which has no fixed date for repayment.
  • Turnover increased from £26.9m to £30.4m. Media income was up £4.2m due to an increase in central distributions by the Premier League but matchday revenue was down £1.6m due to a decrease in cup competition income. Commercial income was up £600,000 due mainly to the increase in academy grant income received as a result of achieving category one status.
  • Wages decreased from £36.6m to £34.5m, reducing the club’s wages to turnover ratio to 113.5 per cent having been 136.1 per cent.
  • Since the balance sheet date the club has entered into transfer arrangements amounting to net transfer fees payable of £300,000.