COST-CUTTING enabled Tranmere to reduce annual operating losses from around £1 million to next to nothing last season, shareholders are to be told this week.

Chairman Peter Johnson will tell the League One club’s annual meeting at Prenton Park tomorrow that Rovers made a pre-tax loss of just £22,650 for the year ended last June, compared to a loss of over £994, 720 for the previous season.

Johnson, Tranmere’s controlling shareholder since 1987, returned to the role of chairman in 2009 and introduced a number of measures designed to reduce operating lossesmuch of the past decade.

The biggest savings were on the budget for players, which was reduced by around £500,000 at the start of last season and is among the lowest in Leagues One and Two.

Johnson said in Tranmere’s annual report: “Operating expenditure decreased by £555,679 as a result of a reduced squad number, lower management salaries and redundancies.”

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