In an ideal world we'd be able to say "Its probably because the matchday staff are getting generous yearly raises and bonuses well above inflation, which is keeping the costs high."
But it's Ashley so it's safe to assume that's not happening.
If I recall it’s because Ashley has out sourced everything to private companies (Programs, Catering, Bars etc) so it doesn’t matter if 1 person goes to the game or 52k go to the game the money is the same set (low) amount. So all the profits go to the private companies. I’ll not insult your intelligence further by telling you who owns these private companies and gets most of the money instead of the club being able to maximise it. All I will say is guess who wins again