Southampton Leisure, owner of the premier league Southampton football club, has reported a return to profit in the year to May, helped in part by a reduction in players' wages.

The group said its wages were still too high but there were "encouraging signs that the worst excesses of the recent bubble are now behind us".

It said this would allow smaller clubs to manage wages without the fear of losing their best players.

In the year to May 2002, Southampton Leisure reported pre-tax profits of �3.3m compared to a loss of �0.1m at the same stage a year ago.

The company has 17,000 season ticket holders but aims to boost this figure to give greater certainty to its profits.

Southampton Leisure said after the departure of Glenn Hoddle and Dean Richards during the year, it had done well to finish in 11th place in the FA Premier League.