CHERRIES recorded a whopping £87.9million turnover during their first year in the Premier League – up an astonishing £75m from the £12.9m cash the club generated in its Championship promotion campaign.

The club's accounts for the year ended July 31 2016, released today, show Cherries pulled in nearly £75m as a direct consequence of operating in English football's top division for the first time.

That income contributed significantly to Cherries reporting a profit after tax of £3.4m. In the year before they began life in the top flight the Vitality Stadium club lost £39.4m.

The sum from the Premier League includes Cherries' share of television money. That figure will increase next year after the league cashed in to the tune of more than £8bn when selling its domestic and foreign tv rights for the three years from 2016.

A need to compete with the country's elite clubs saw Cherries' wage bill climb £30.4m, from £29.6m to £60m – a sum that included Premier League retention bonuses.

Chief executive Neill Blake said: "Football player and team management wages, including Premier League retention bonuses, increased as the club strived to offer competitive remuneration packages to attract and maintain the calibre of playing and team management staff necessary to allow the club to compete in the league, with the aim of maintaining Premier League status."

Player registration costs rose from £22.9m on August 1 2015 to £69.8m on July 31. In the 12-month period covered by the accounts Cherries splashed out on a host of stars in their bid to remain at the cutting edge of the game.

Jordon Ibe was bought for a reported club record fee of £15m prior to this campaign, while £10m was spent on Benik Afobe in January last year.

Lewis Cook and Lys Mousset arrived last summer for combined fees of more than £10m.

The club incurred operating expenses of £20.5m in the 12 months to July 31, £13m more than the corresponding figure in the previous year's accounts. The increase is explained by Cherries' investing in player loans – defender Joe Bennett from Aston Villa, Roma attacker Juan Iturbe and Nathan Ake of Chelsea had temporary stays agreed during this period – additional scouting costs, and extra expenditure on stadium and operating matters.

A profit of £10.7m on disposal of players will be largely accounted for by the £12m sale of Matt Ritchie to Newcastle, three years after he arrived at Dean Court for £400,000.

The club received £740,000 in loan fees, with Ryan Fraser, Harry Cornick and Jayden Stockley among the players to spend time away from Dorset during the year.

Writing about future development plans in the directors' report section of the accounts Blake said: "The club continues to have plans for growth and expansion and it is hoped that the playing squad can be developed further to ensure continued playing success.

"The club is working to identify a new site for its stadium and it is our ambition that a new stadium would be built in time for the start of the 2020/21 season."