Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has revealed the club's latest accounts will show a loss - but only because of their investment in the team.

The audited figures are due to be released in the next few weeks, but Quinn and chief executive Steve Walton insist the Black Cats remain on a firm financial footing with owner Ellis Short having converted a £48million loan into shares last summer.

Quinn told the club's official website: "We are about to release our audited figures in the next few weeks and I'm happy that will provide more enlightenment for our fans.

"The accounts will show the word 'loss', but that should really be interpreted as 'extra signings'.

"We could easily have shown a profit, but we wouldn't have [Michael] Turner, [Darren] Bent, [Lee] Cattermole or [Lorik] Cana.

"We have a situation now where we have a great chance of going forward."

Sunderland are currently struggling for form in the Barclays Premier League and are without a win in 14 outings.

However, they remain in a healthy position off the pitch with Short's patronage ensuring they are protected against the financial difficulties currently being experienced throughout the game, most notably at Portsmouth.

Walton said: "I'm glad to say Sunderland aren't making the headlines for financial reasons at the moment.

"The really important thing for the fans is that we have a solid financial base, and that's what having a solid owner does for us.

"There's one thing I want to emphasise: recently, we have seen Chelsea and Manchester City come out and say their owners have capitalised their loans.

"What that means is they have taken loans they have put into the club and converted them into shares. The money is then effectively there forever and can't be withdrawn, so it's a very powerful thing to do.

"Well, we did that last year. With the help of Ellis Short, we capitalised £48million last July. We just did it and didn't make a song and dance about it. That made us much stronger.

"We spent more than we earned last year and we did that because we wanted to take the club to another level.

"We could only do that because our owner allowed us to.

"I can't believe that many clubs will show a stronger balance sheet and reduced debt. Not only did we cover off the investments, Ellis Short gave us money to reduce our external bank debts as well.

"It's a really strong and powerful picture going forward."