Ben Kensell blames Hibs losses on lack of 'sporting success' as CEO outlines what must happen to stem the flow

Ben Kensell says a lack of sporting success caused HIbs to lose nearly £4million last year and that they must qualify for Europe and go deep in the cups to be sustainable.

The Easter Road club published their annual accounts, which showed a £3.9million loss and a wages to turnover ratio of 81 per cent. Those numbers proved alarming to fans, having seen a high turnover of players and managers in recent season with little to show for it on the pitch.

Chief executive Kensell insisted that the figures would look much healthier next year. But he revealed that the club didn't budget for being knocked out of the Viaplay Cup in the group stage, nor a Scottish Cup exit in the fifth round after a 3-0 home defeat to city rivals Hearts. He also conceded that the Hibees had overspent on players in chasing success, which was another contributing factor.

"It's a lot to do with context and timing. No one wants to make a loss in football full stop, we want a sustainable football club moving forward. We've grown our club-controlled income off the pitch by over a million pounds, people will see that. But ultimately, we spent on the footballing side in order to achieve success.

"And some would say, 'well, what has been achieved as a result of that success?' As a result of our overspend, we achieved three rounds of European football that aren't shown in these accounts. So the accounts for next year are a marked improvement - much, much better on the numbers of this year's accounts, but ultimately it comes down to sporting performance.

"We got knocked out of both cup competitions early on. We don't budget for that, which is a severe dent in our funding, and our income. We've spent on players, we've overspent from a budget perspective, and