Pre-tax profit for the corporate entity WH Holding Limited soared to £43.5 million ($60.5 million/€48.7 million), compared with a £4.9 million ($6.8 million/€5.5 million) loss the year before.

This was on turnover of a record £183.3 million ($254.8 million/€205.3 million), well up on the £142.1 million ($197.5 million/€159.2 million) generated in 2015-2016.

Director Karren Brady said in her vice chairman's review that the club would have made a similar profit had it remained at its old stadium.

This was because "the majority" of the profit for the year was generated by a lucrative new broadcast deal negotiated by the Premier League and by profit on the sale of players.

Disposals included that of Dimitri Payet, the club's one-time talisman, who returned to Olympique Marseille in France.

The club's historic home, known as the Boleyn Ground, was sold in July 2016 for £38 million ($52.8 million/€42.6 million).

The club - whose average league attendance surged from just under 35,000 to almost 57,000 as a consequence of the move to the venue now known as the London Stadium - said that, having already received £10 million ($13.9 million/€11.2 million) in deposits, the net proceeds from the ground sale were used to pay off bank loans and a £15 million ($20.9 million/€16.8 million) one-off usage fee for access to the venue. 

It was revealed in April 2016 that the club is paying £2.5 million ($3.5 million/€2.8 million) a year to rent the stadium under a 99-year lease agreement.

Brady explained that the one-off usage fee is being expensed over the term of the lease.

The club said that the stadium accounted for the bulk of its £8.1 million ($11.3 million/€9.1 million) in capital expenditure over the year, while Brady revealed that hospitality areas were "completely sold out for the next three years with a substantial waiting list".

insidethegames reported last month that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan had promised to take control of the stadium in order to "renegotiate deals" and "minimise ongoing losses".

This came as it was forecast that the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, built for London 2012, would lose over £30 million ($41 million/€34 million) annually for the next four years.