EHAB Allam believes Hull City are back on the right track after posting an annual profit for the first time in eight years, but stressed there can be no complacency if they are to become an established top-flight side.
In accounts made public this week, the rewards of a top-flight return were unveiled with City posting a record-breaking profit of £9.4m for an 11-month period spanning the 2013-14 season.
That impressive figure was trimmed back to £3.3m when accounting for a full 12 months of trading, but still represents a huge turnaround a year after posting losses of £25.6m for the 2012-13 season.
Almost four years after taking control of City from previous owner Russell Bartlett, promotion back to the Premier League has enabled Ehab and father Assem to post a positive return for the first time in their reign.
"The results are very encouraging," City's vice chairman told the Mail. "We said a couple of years ago that our target was to break even this season and over a 12-month period we've managed that.
"We're getting there slowly. It's taken time and a lot of hard work but we're getting to a stage, come the end of the year, when we've overcome all the previous hurdles."
However, stating his intent to expand City's income, Allam added: "We're not where we want to be but we're heading in the right direction.
"The key is where our income is compared to our competitors. We can't be complacent because, as we stand, a lot of our rivals have an advantage over us.
"Yes, we've had a good year but let's not be complacent.
"This club needs a long-term sustainability and we can't do that by having the income of a side in the bottom three."
City's total turnover for the 2013-14 season increased by almost 700 per cent from £11m to £84m, an income transformed in the main by £68m of television revenue. Only a historic run to the FA Cup final, an adventure that netted the club £3.9m, ultimately kept City in profit, though, with a wage bill of £43.3m underlining the increased financial commitments in the top flight.
A sobering note came with the news of Superstadium Management Company (SMC), the club's sister company tasked with running the KC Stadium, losing £5m.
The SMC's annual accounts are not yet available to view but City say a "stadium mortgage inherited from the previous ownership" has now been left for them to pay off following failed legal action.
It remains unclear how any individual was able to take out a mortgage on the KC Stadium, a Hull City Council-owned asset, but Allam is frustrated that the bill has come to his door.
"It's obviously very disappointing to be almost four years into the ownership and still paying off the debts of the previous regime," he said. "We would have wanted to reinvest those sums back into the squad."
Asked if he felt there was questions for the Council to answer, Allam said: "If it made a difference to us financially I'd be asking those questions but I have no legal recourse on anything the Council may or may not have done in the past. There's no point in me asking but if I was a member of the general public I'd be asking questions."
Hull City Council were unavailable for comment when contacted by the Mail yesterday.
