Albion have reiterated their pledge to meet tough new financial guidelines on football clubs after the full impact of their move to The Amex became clear.

The Seagulls confirmed a loss of £9.1 million in their first season at the stadium.

But they have reduced the impact of their wage bill to two-thirds of income compared to 95% in their final season at Withdean.

The Seagulls have confirmed they are on course to meet Financial Fair Play rules which aim to keep a check on clubs’ spending.

Chief executive Paul Barber last night told The Argus Albion are striving to give Gus Poyet a “competitive” playing budget as Championship clubs feel the squeeze.

Barber says events such as tonight’s under-21 international between England and Austria – which looks set to attract a crowd of about 20,000 – can play a key part in their attempts to increase income.

He said: “We are also working hard to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs and start to reduce the losses we have reported. It’s good business sense and FFP demands that we do this anyway.

“There is always room for improvement in a business like ours. We can improve ticket and hospitality sales, we can improve retail sales, we can attract more non-match day events and we want to broaden our range of stadium-related tours as well as soccer schools and other community activities.”

In their report accompanying the full accounts, Albion’s directors addressed the question of FFP and said: “The Board welcomes these new rules and will ensure the club is fully compliant.”

Accounts show Albion’s turnover trebled to £22.2million in the first season at The Amex.

Income from ticket sales rocketed from £2.3 million to £7.9 million and commercial sponsorship and advertising increased from £832,000 to almost £4 million.

Catering income was £1.25 million compared to £35,000 in the last season at Withdean.

Retail income rose four-fold to £2 million and the club banked £5.7 million from TV compared to £1.6 million on their way to winning the third tier.

The club received £5.7 million in cash distributed by the Football League and Premier League solidarity payments compared to £1.6 million in League One.

But total costs increased from £14.7 million to £31.6 million.

Staff costs more than doubled to £14.7 million and the number of operational and admin staff rose from 64 to 122.

The club also recognised the expense of running the stadium under the heading “other costs” which rose from £7.5 million to £16.9 million.

Albion recently announced a multi-year shirt sponsorship deal with American Express and hope to stage Rugby World Cup fixtures.

Attendances have gone up since the period covered by the figures now being reported.

Barber added: “Some of the costs currently being analysed show a club that has moved from a tiny stadium that it didn’t own to a huge stadium that it does own overnight.

“We are still getting used to how to run it efficiently.

“The revenues also show a Championship club still working with League One sponsorships which inevitably take a little time to unwind and be renewed or replaced at higher levels.

“Clearly, we also need to ensure our playing budget is competitive and, as ever, we'll be giving David Burke and Gus every assistance to ensure this is the case, bearing in mind future playing budgets for all teams in the Championship will be subject to FFP rules (so many are likely to be squeezed).”