Kent chairman George Kennedy says he hopes the club can expect decent financial figures in the coming years to bring an end to a spell of ‘horrendous losses.’

On Tuesday morning Kent released figures for the year to October 31, 2013, which showed huge improvements on 12 months earlier, and continued their progress towards the break-even line.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) profits for the year were £156,778 - up more than £400,000 on the previous year meaning it is the fifth straight year that the club’s EBITDA figure has grown, with a rise of around £800,000 since the 2009 figures were released.

Overall the club did make a post-tax loss for the year of £98,576, though it was a vast improvement on the £628,054 loss in last year’s figures.

The results showed a half-million pound improvement over the course of 12 months and Chief Executive Jamie Clifford revealed: “You can’t just pick out one line and say it’s down to that.

“The one thing it's not, though, is an increase in gate receipts. Membership and gate receipts were static between the two years. It’s a combination of all the little things that go into running the business.

“We’ve done a lot of things over a number of years that are coming to fruition: increasing revenue lines, so the Sainsburys rental, conference and banqueting, the annual guaranteed incomes, and also cost savings like staffing, matchday costs, ground costs, those sort of things, while trying to maintain cricket spend at a level we feel is appropriate.”

Mr Kennedy said: “I would be more than happy if we could do just better than break even each year and the fact is we’re so close to that mark now after several years of horrendous losses.

"It really has been a struggle, but I think we’re set for the next few years of decent results. Not just on the pitch but off it as well.”

Mr Clifford said the redevelopment of the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, the development of young talent on the field, and the investment in facilities in Beckenham were cause for pride.

He said: “Hopefully those things add up to feeling of a club that has ‘regathered itself.’

“We were where we were but we’ve tried to get things properly structured and well-organised - the building blocks are in place. The team still have to do their bit, but I think we have set it up so we actually stand a chance.”