AFL club North Melbourne have posted a small profit despite a significant downturn in matchday returns.

The Kangaroos recorded a $60,444 operating profit for the 2009 season, down from $1,088,941 last year.

The profit came despite the club making only $77,000 in matchday returns from 11 home games, compared with $1.7 million in 2008.

The Kangaroos also built their recently opened $15m training and community facility and increased their football department spending from $11.9 million to $13.7 million.

Chief executive Eugene Arocca said the club's net asset position had grown strongly, given the new facility was more than 90 per cent funded through external sources, such as government grants and fundraising initiatives.

He said the club would also be helped next year by the deal recently struck by the AFL with MCG and Etihad Stadium, under which Melbourne-based clubs will reap an extra $100,000 per home game.

"Moving forward, the club's major financial issue is to start repaying debt and grow the profits to be consistently over $1 million per annum," Arocca said.

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