Ipswich Town have announced pre-tax profis of £136,000 for the 12 months to June. This looks impressive after a loss of £14m for the previous year and £10m in 2009, but is largely down to player sales. Jon Walters went to Stoke for £2.75m and Connor Wickham to Sunderland for £8.1m.
Ipswich Town have announced pre-tax profis of £136,000 for the 12 months to June. This looks impressive after a loss of £14m for the previous year and £10m in 2009, but is largely down to player sales. Jon Walters went to Stoke for £2.75m and Connor Wickham to Sunderland for £8.1m.
Nevertheless, chief executive Simon Clegg insisted, ‘Any club in the current climate, with the current state of football finances, would be delighted to showing a pre-tax and pre-interest profit.’ Turnover increased by 10 per cent on the previous year from £15.6m to £17.2m. Staff costs are down from 109.4 per cent of turnover last year to 98.9 per cent this year, although that is still a high figure.
Clegg is relaxed about attendances at Portman Road this season where Town have averaged 18,889 spectators this season. This is almost 2,000 less than three years ago. He pointed to the difficult economic situation and claimed that the Tractors were not in as a bad a position as many other clubs.
On the other hand, East Anglia has not been hit as hard by the economic downturn as some parts of the country, although many jobs are relatively low paid. Felixstowe docks continue to be busy, however.
It may be that there is some disquiet about mixed performances on the pitch, particularly with close rivals Norwich basking in the Premiership. However, whilst Town are not going to splash the clash, Paul Jewell has been told he will be provided with funds to buy players in the January transfer window provided that he can identify the right players at the right price.