The latest six monthly results for Arsenal show that profits are down year on year but cash reserves are up. This will increase the pressure to spend money on players in the summer, although Arsene Wenger still claims that the club can finish 2nd in the Premiership this year.
The latest six monthly results for Arsenal show that profits are down year on year but cash reserves are up. This will increase the pressure to spend money on players in the summer, although Arsene Wenger still claims that the club can finish 2nd in the Premiership this year.
Most clubs would be happy to break even or make a modest loss, let alone record a profit of over £17m in six months. But the latest figures show the club’s dependence on player sales and the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust have pointed out that fans pay some of the highest prices in the world to watch football at the Emirates.
Profits fell sharply from £50m a year ago for the six months to the end of November to £17.8m in 2012 despite the sale of Robin van Perisie for £24m. But cash reserves were up from £115m to £123m. This in part reflects the success of the Highbury Square development where all but one flat has been sold.
Profit from trading players was £23.2m, compared with £46.1m for the same period a year ago. The importance of this money to the club is shown by the fact that operating profits were down from £15.2m to £5m year on year.
Football turnover declined from £113.5m to £106m, but this reflected the fact that there were four fewer fixtures in the comparable period. This implies that each fixture is worth not far short of £2m in revenue for the club. £30m from the new sponsorship deal with Emirates will be available for spending in the summer.