Tottenham to launch a £15m rights issue - 15/07/2003

Spurs announced in July 2003 that they were proposing to launch a £15m rights issue to boost Glen Hoddle's transfer budget. The announcement accompanied a statement that full year losses will be at least £5m compared with a pre-tax profit of £900,000 last year. One City analyst commented, 'I cannot see any institutions supporting it given the current sentiment that surrounds football clubs other than the top one or two. That means Enic are going to have to dig a bit deeper than they would have hoped.' In November 2002 the club secured a £75m repayable over twenty years to help pay off debts and improve facilities. £10m of the loan has been drawn down to restructure existing debts. The rest is earmarked for improvements to White Hart Lane and to build a new training ground and academy. The club was acquired by Enic following the sale of a 27 per cent stake to them by Alan Sugar which they added to the 2.9 per cent they already owned. Sugar was reviled by Spurs fans, but there will be no immediate injection of cash by the new owners. In October 2001 Enic completed its control of the club when it was announced that two senior executives were to leave. Daniel Levy, managing director of Enic, has moved from a non-executive role to that of executive chairman and is to be responsible for management of the business. The club have confirmed reports that they might leave White Hart Lane if Haringey Council fail to improve the surrounding area. Apart from regenerating the area, transport links need to improve, including an underground station (a status symbol already possessed by Arsenal, although the station was once called Gillespie Road). The club would like to increase capacity at White Hart Lane to 50,000 from the present 36,000 if they stay. Tottenham's turnover for the twelve months to June 30 rose from £48.4m to £65m, thanks to an increase in gate receipts, media income, sponsorship and merchandising. A £6.3m surplus generated by player sales lifted pre-tax profits to £946,000 (as against £3.5m losses). However, the six months to 31 December saw a sharp fall into the red. Although turnover was up in the first half from £29.4m to £32.8m, a pre-tax loss of £8.6m against a £2.9m profit was recorded. The main reason was a write down of £5.1m on the valuation of Ukranian international Sergei Rebrov. Spurs paid a club record £11m for him three years ago, but he has been loaned to Fenerbache in Turkey for eighteen months.