Hearts cut losses, but results reveal debt up to £34.8m

Hearts' wage bill was cut by seven per cent, their finance costs by 19 per cent, and their operational costs by 31 per cent. These savings helped produce an operating loss of 8.6m – a significant decrease from the previous year's 11.2m. The sale of club captain Christophe Berra to Wolves was also of major value, helping Hearts make a net gain of 1.81m on player sales.

Jim Jefferies, who took over as manager in January this year, has been told he must keep cutting the wage bill, and with some big earners out of contract shortly he will be able to do so relatively painlessly. In the longer term, Hearts are committed to bringing players through their academy system into the first team – and then on to a bigger stage in England.

Lee Wallace and Eggert Jonsson were both mentioned in the club's press release as successful examples of the academy's work, while the adjacent item on the club website yesterday quoted both Jefferies and Wallace on the defender's ambitions of playing in England.

"You want to bring people through the academy, have a few years of success, get some rewards and then they move on to bigger and better things, as long as the club gets the right proportion of money to run the club," Jefferies said after presenting Wallace with the Players' Player of the Year award for the second season running on Sunday night. "Lee has come through the youth system and I am sure he will come on and even be able to play in the Premiership. He has certainly got the potential to do that."

Hearts' figures also improved by 500,000 thanks to a "forgiveness of debt" by parent company Ubig. A new funding-for-equity deal similar to the one agreed by Ubig in July 2008 is also being considered.