There was however an 18 perc ent jump in spending to 429 million euros largely due to cash paid out to players in wages and bonuses which amounted to 305 million euros, the Spanish champions said on Wednesday.

Net profit for the period was nine million euros and debt rose to 326 million euros.

Barcelona said they earned 121 million euros from marketing, 25 million from the sale or loan of players and 15 million from the sale of a plot at Sant Joan Despi.

Real Madrid became the first team in any sport to post revenue in excess of 400 million euros in a single year in the 2008-09 season, according to an annual survey of the richest soccer clubs by accountancy firm Deloitte.

Deloitte uses its own formula for gauging a club's annual income based on day-to-day football operations and excludes exceptional items like the one-off sale of assets.

Barca could outstrip their arch rivals on the firm's updated Money League, typically published about nine months after the end of the season.

Reuters