West Bromwich Albion’s new chief executive, Mark Jenkins, has painted a bleak picture of the club’s finances, admitting: “There is no more money for wages.”

Jenkins returned to the club in February after it was announced that the chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman had been given notice of termination of their contracts and placed on gardening leave.

In an interview on the club’s website, Jenkins said: “I’ll be honest I’ve come back and I’m shocked at what I have found in some of the decisions that have been made.

“We have wages, transfer fees and loan fees running at record levels and yet we find ourselves in this position [bottom of the Premier League].

“When I was on the outside looking in, for example, I read the reports about the club operating at the limit of its short-term cost control [STCC]. Knowing the business as I did, I thought that was a negotiating position but I’ve come back and can assure you that we are right at our limit on STCC. There is no more money for wages.”

STCC was introduced to stop clubs spending too much television money on wages. It means Premier League teams can increase their wage bill above a specified level by no more than £7m each season, unless funded by the club’s own revenue uplift or playing trading profits.

Jenkins, who confirmed the owner, Guochuan Lai, remained committed, said: “It’s been painful looking in and seeing the club I and many, many other people had built up to be an established Premier League club … it has all unravelled in the 12 months or more since I’ve been away.”

Jenkins’s remarks came even though accounts filed up to June 2017 show pre-tax profits rose to £39.7m from £1m.