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The Scottish record sale of Kieran Tierney helped Celtic to a pre-tax £24.4m profit in the final six months of last year, an increase of £5.6m on the same period in 2018.

Revenue also rose, from £50m to £53.3m, while the club ended the year with £32.9m in the bank, down from £38.6m.

Tierney's £25m move to Arsenal in August was key to a £900,000 hike in player trading profit of £7.1m.

Chairman Ian Bankier described the interim results as "strong".

Despite missing out on Champions League qualification for the second successive season, Celtic won their Europa League group to match last term's achievement of reaching the last 32, where they face Copenhagen this month.

Neil Lennon's side also collected their 10th straight domestic honour by winning the Scottish League Cup final and have a seven-point lead at the top of the Premiership, having played a game more than Rangers.

"Crucially, we continue to commit substantial funds to our football department," Bankier added. "Salaries have increased over the same period last year and in the summer and winter transfer windows 2019/2020 we invested in 10 new player registrations.

"By almost all key footballing measures, performance has improved relative to the same period last year."