BARCELONA: Spanish champions Barcelona have reported record revenues of €679m for 2015-16 as they continue to head towards the target of reaching €1bn by 2021.

The revenue figure marks a significant increase on projections for the 2015-16 season, a campaign in which Barcelona won the domestic league and cup double.

Barcelona last year estimated revenue for 2015-16 of €633m, and the club yesterday (Monday) said that it has recorded a net profit of €29m after tax for the recently completed season.

The club registered record turnover of €608m for its 2014-15 financial year, with income rising by 15pc from €530m in the previous campaign. However, profits fell 36.5pc from €41m to just €15m.

Monday’s board meeting also reviewed the strategic plan the club has in place for the period spanning 2015 to 2021.

The five key goals of this plan are sporting excellence, economic management and sustainability, social involvement, the Espai Barça infrastructure project, and the brand and global positioning. Barcelona said these areas will be delivered on through 27 strategic projects that will be developed over the course of the mandate.

Finally, the club’s board also gave formal approval to the deal that will see Qatar Airways retain its place as Barcelona’s main sponsor. Barcelona last week confirmed a one-season extension to its main sponsorship agreement with Qatar Airways, with the club stating the new contract will run under the same conditions as the previous deal.

Qatar’s national carrier has served as Barcelona’s front-of-shirt sponsor since the 2013-14 season but its contract, said to be worth around €32m per year, expired at the end of the 2015-16 campaign. Under the extension, the partnership will now run through the forthcoming 2016-17 season.

The 2015-16 season also saw Barcelona conclude another major commercial deal. In May, Barcelona extended a partnership with sportswear company Nike in a deal reportedly worth a world record total of €155m per season.

Neither the length nor the value of the deal was disclosed, but the Diario Sport and El Mundo Deportivo newspapers said that the agreement would run for eight years, from 2018-19 to 2025-26. Diario Sport claimed that the deal will be worth a basic €105m per season, with the rest of the total relying on performance bonuses.

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