The owner of Wembley Stadium has announced it made a pre-tax loss of £31m last year and said it could default on finance agreements if wealthy patrons fail to renew their season tickets.

Accounts filed this weekend show that the huge cost of financing construction of the home of the England football team and one of Britain’s biggest entertainment venues continues to weigh heavily on the parent company.

Figures published by Wembley National Stadium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Football Association, show that the company made an operating profit of nearly £6m in the year to December 31, 2008.

The group plunged into the red because of a £26.6m interest bill and the £10.9m write-off of bank fees associated with the stadium financing in 2002. The overall loss was £23m after tax, an improvement on the previous year’s loss of £36m.

The company said that its business plan had always forecast that it would not break even until five years after the stadium opened in 2007 at a total cost of £757m, after eight years of rising costs and delays.

During the year, management refinanced the business, though it still has debts of more than £320m. The deal cut its interest rate from 7.8% to 6.9% and extended the repayment deadline from 2018 to 2023.

The company added that the new arrangements included cashflow covenants that it expected to achieve but could default on if there is a fall in the number of Club Wembley licence holders, who pay annually for boxes and premium seats.

The company said: “This uncertainty has been discussed ... with the FA and the directors are confident that additional support is available should this be needed.”

The sale of boxes and seats is an important revenue stream, accounting for 59% of the £90m annual revenue.

Club Wembley’s 4,500 private members license the seats for an average of eight to 10 years and pay annual season fees. In 2008, about 87% of the licensed seats were taken, up from 82% the previous year.

Corporate boxes are available on three-, five-, seven- and 10-year licences, starting from £79,350 a year. Wembley says these are its most popular offerings. Deals on premium seats start from £950 a year.

Last year Wembley hosted 1.7m people at 27 events, including four England football internationals, the FA Cup final and concerts by Madonna and the Foo Fighters.

David Bernstein, company chairman, said: “I believe that 2008 will be seen as a watershed year in our history as the stadium reclaimed its place on the world events circuit. I am confident that 2009 will further underline the status of Wembley as one of the world’s premier venues.”

Later this month, the 90,000-seat stadium will host the England under-21 Euro 2011 qualifier against Portugal.

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