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Articles on football club company financial results – interim or full-year.
Brentford made losses of £16.7m in 2014-15, an increase of 91 per cent on the previous year, reports Beesotted Brentford. Turnover at £9.9m was up 124 per cent. Wages at £17.7m were over 175 per cent of turnover, the highest figure I have seen for a long time. However, apparently there was a substantial element of bonuses for finishing 5th.
Yeovil Town made a £692,000 loss in 2014-15 as they were hit by relegation to League One. Turnover dropped from £7.8m to £4m as attendances fell. Their 2013-14 season in the Championship saw them make a £1.4m profit.
The author of the Swiss Ramble blog has turned his attention to Burnley whose latest accounts were released recently. They relate to last season in the Premiership where the Clarets seem very likely to return.
Blackburn Rovers have announced losses of £17.2m for 2014/15, seeing their overall debt swell to £104.2m. This includes £87m of interest free loans to owners Venky’s. The losses do represent an improvement on the £42.1m pre-tax losses recorded in 2013/14.
Blackburn manager Paul Lambert commented, ‘There has to be leadership and talking about how to reduce the debt. You can’t just magic that sort of thing out of the air.’
In stark contrast to the poor financial results from QPR reported below, Burnley recorded a record profit of £30.1m in the financial year to June 2015. Only Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United had a bigger profit in the Premier League.
The latest accounts from Queens Park Rangers show that the club’s holding company recorded a £45.7m loss last season despite having the benefit of Premier League television income. They earned £65.9m from Premier League television money last season, which contributed to an overall turnover of £85.8m.
However, £38.8m was spent on players and there was a wage bill of £72.9m. This represents 85 per cent of turnover, well above the recommended 50 per cent level. The club’s net debt, mainly in the form of loans from shareholders, has risen to £193m.
The author of the authoritative Swiss Ramble blog provides an in depth examination of the finances of Liverpool who recently published their accounts for 2014/15. He concludes that they are in good financial shape under the Fenway Sports Group, whilst noting the mixed performance on the pitch and the ticket pricing fiasco,
Aston Villa’s latest financial results do not make for happy reading, given the club’s precarious position in the Premier League. Losses at the parent company went up from £3.9m to £27.3m.
Turnover fell slightly from £116.9m to £115.7m. The wage bill was up from £69m to £83.7m. As a proportion of turnover it went up from an acceptable 59 per cent to a concerning 72 per cent.
Charlton’s accounts for 2014-5 show that the club had a total of £46m in debt. £38m was owed to Roland Duchatelet’s company Staprix, £7m to the old board and £1m to the bank.
£1m was paid in interest to Staprix during the year, according to VOTV editor Rick Everitt.
Wolverhampton Wanderers made a profit in 2014-15, but it is dependent on parachute payments which end this year. Pre-tax profits were £2.3m but these reduce to £700,000 when depreciation of the Molineux stadium is taken into account.
Turnover was down from £32.6m to £26.4m, largely reflecting a drop in parachute payments. Gate money, sponsorship and advertising revenue were all up.