This compares with a profit of $1.2 million (£900,000/€1 million) recorded in 2018.

The latest result came on total income of $23.5 million (£17.6 million/€19.5 million), which represented a 10 per cent advance on 2018 levels.

The bulk of this income came from marketing rights, which rose to $16.1 million (£12.1 million/€13.4 million) from $14.8 million (£11.1 million/€12.3 million) the previous year.

A breakdown disclosed that just over $9 million (£6.75 million/€7.5 million) of the 2019 total came from sponsorship income, and a further $6.3 million (£4.7 million/€5.2 million) from television and data rights.

While income was up, so were overall expenses, from $20.1 million (£15.1 million/€16.7 million) to $23.4 million (£17.5 million/€19.4 million).

This was partly due to governance costs more than doubling to just over $2 million (£1.5 million/€1.7 million).

The big change here was a jump in costs related to "professional consultancy" from less than $130,000 (£97,500/€108,000) in 2018 to $1.16 million (£870,000/€963,000).

Expenses related to the ITTF President amounted to $191,417 (£143,563/€158,876).

A note explained that $107,354 (£80,515/€89,104) of this figure was paid as an honorarium for services provided, down from $113,486 (£85,115/€94,193) in 2018.

It was announced earlier this year that ITTF President Thomas Weikert and senior staff had agreed to reduce their salary to help the sport through the coronavirus pandemic.

At 31 December 2019, the ITTF had total assets of $19.3 million (£14.5 million/€16 million).

A commercial update by chief executive Steve Dainton included in working documents for an Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to be held online on September 28 states that the record revenues from the commercial business of the ITTF were achieved "despite some bumps on the road".

Dainton described the approval of World Table Tennis (WTT), an entity expected to launch next year and manage the federation’s commercial and events business, as "arguably one of the boldest and most important decisions that the sport has ever taken".

WTT "allows us to reset the whole table tennis commercial strategy," Dainton wrote.

It was developed after Deloitte and Withers were hired in 2018 with the task of changing the way the governing body runs its business.

Dainton added: "As 2021 is when the majority of our commercial contracts finish, it is the perfect opportunity to go to market with a fresh, modern and new approach that will allow us to raise the bar significantly to what was previously achieved."

Dainton’s report to the AGM also states that Singapore has become "the major hub" of ITTF activity.