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Articles on football club company financial results – interim or full-year.
Now that all the Premier League club accounts for last season are available, the authoritative Swiss Ramble blog has been able to make an overall analysis.
Eight clubs made a profit, which is more than I expected, with Swansea City leading the pack at £21m. QPR, who were relegated, made by far the biggest losses. Arsenal had the biggest cash balances at £153m, followed by Manchester United at £94m.
Accounts filed at Companies House have led to new revelations about Leeds United. GFH Capital sold half its stake to an unnamed party between March and June last year before buying it back in December 2013, reaching 85 per cent ownership. This meant that there was no ‘controlling party’ of the club for at least six months.
It is well known that the Championship is a challenging division financially. Medium-sized clubs such as Charlton have to compete with clubs with wealthy benefactors or parachute payments. Hence, it is no surprise that the latest accounts show continuing financial losses.
In the 2012/13 the club reported overall losses of £7.4m, although profits on player trading reduced this to £6m. Turnover was up by £3.4m, largely reflecting increased television revenue and solidarity payments following promotion to the Championship.
Tottenham Hotspur have announced a good set of financial results. Turnover was up to not far short of £150m. Profit excluding player trading and before depreciation was £23.4m. After taking account of interest and tax, profit was £1.5m which is a respectable figure when many clubs are making big losses.
Apart from the £15 million pound mortgage on the iPro stadium, Derby County are now a debt free club. £28.5m of loans have been converted to equity by the club’s owners.
However, the club continued to make losses of over £7m a year, showing how difficult it is to even approach break even in the Championship and contend for promotion. Like other clubs, the Rams are reliant on the continued support of the owners.
A £23m loss at Sunderland in the year to 31 July is better than it looks. It doesn’t include transfer dealings after then, nor does it take account of the new television deal that kicked in this season. Last year expenditure was reduced by £9m to £95m, largely through reducing wage costs.
We have seen many sets of annual financial accounts in the past week, not least from Championship clubs. These show big losses from clubs anxious to be promoted to the Premier League and enjoy its fabulous riches. Unfortunately, while the streets of the Premier League may be paved with gold, the route to them is often one of unsustainable debt.
Leicester City FC made a loss of £34m in the 2012-13 season, reflecting how much it can cost a benefactor to get a football club promoted. However, the club are now on track to take the Championship title which is just as well as a similar loss next season would lead to a £20m fine under financial fair play rules.
A fall in ticket sales and revenue contributed to the £4.3m increase in losses from the previous year. But City say the figures also reflect the purchase of the King Power Stadium, and that important progress has been made meeting Financial Fair Play rules.
Liverpool have been doing well on the pitch, but they have also been making progress off the pitch. Their latest accounts relate to the first full year that Brendan Rogers was manager and they show a considerable improvement in the club’s financial position. This was in spite of the fact that they did not have Champions League football which is usually worth about £30m.
Aston Villa didn’t exactly announce their latest financial results with a fanfare, publishing them on the club website, even though they show an improving picture.
After finances were spiralling out of control, leading to owner Randy Lerner to bring in cost-cutting methods while ensuring the club’s Premier League status, Aston Villa are now out of the woods, according to the club’s chief financial officer, Robin Russell.