Glasgow (AFP) – Scottish football giants Rangers continued their financial recovery from the depths of liquidation as their annual figures showed increased turnover and they had halved their losses on Friday.

Dave King, who has been Rangers chairman since May 2015, said that the turnover of £22.2million (24.8 million euros) to June this year (an increase of six million from 2014/15) and losses of £3.3m down from £7.7m in 2015 were a result of a lot of hard labour by him and the board.

Their efforts had been rewarded by the players and manager Mark Warburton after they returned to the Premiership after a four year hiatus — although their results so far this season have been mixed with the low a 5-1 thumping by bitter rivals Celtic.

“The board and the executives have had to work extremely hard over the last year to deal with all of the issues that the club has faced,”said King.

“This effort must be repeated in the coming year as we continue to achieve our goals while strictly adhering to the strategies and disciplines that are necessary in what remains an extremely challenging operating environment.”

King acknowledged that in order to really compete with Celtic they might have to loosen the purse strings although he added it would be performance related.

Rangers are presently fifth in the table, nine points adrift of leaders Celtic, who also have a game in hand on them.

“Further funding may be required during the 2017-18 season, the quantum of which is dependent on future football performance and European football participation,” he added.

“The board of directors has received undertakings from certain investors that they will provide financial support to the group and have satisfied themselves as to the validity of these undertakings and that the individuals have the means and authority to provide such funding as and when it is required.”