Celtic Football Club says player disposals mean that its earnings for the year will be “significantly higher than previous expectations”.

The club issued an upbeat stock exchange announcement last night but gave no figures ahead of end-of-year results in the middle of September.

It said: “Celtic has enjoyed a strong on pitch performance in the 2023/24 football season having won the domestic double.

“In addition, it has enjoyed a successful year in generating gains from player trading. As a result of such gains and a strong end to the season from a footballing perspective, Celtic now expects earnings for the year ended 30 June 2024 will be significantly higher than previous expectations, which were formed before the conclusion of the season and prior to certain player disposals.

“Player registration valuations and player trading can and often do materially influence Celtic’s financial performance in addition to trading revenue.

“The summer transfer window is underway and following the closure of the window and the finalisation of the year end balance sheet review, the club will then be in a position to confirm the extent of its earnings by publishing its results for the year ended 30 June 2024, in line with its usual timetable in mid-September 2024.”

Pretax profit for the year to the end of June 2023 came in at £40.7m, a sharp rise on the £6.1m for the the year before, though chairman Peter Lawwell pointed out that this included “some material items of a one off nature” which amounted to £13.5m. Group revenue increased by 35.8% to £119.9m (2022: £88.2m).

Revenue of £85.2m for the six months to the end of December 2023 was up on the £76.5m in the previous first-half, although profit for the period fell to £28.5m from £33.8m.

Irish businessman Dermot Desmond holds 34.7% stake in the club.