Grumpy Old Man
Striker
Here we go. My in depth take on the club’s 22/23 accounts. If you’ve got a low boredom threshold, you might want to move on. This is likely to take a while.
1. Turnover
Increased to £35.5m from £26.1m (36%). All areas of income increased, but the bulk of it came from media receipts, a combination of the far more generous distribution to Championship clubs compared to L1, and out popularity with Sky for live fixture. I suspect we bring in much higher viewing figures than most of the clubs in the division. Gate receipts increased by £1.3m (18.9%), reflecting the 8-10% price increase from 21/22 and increased average gates. However, because of the generous concessions available, and the high percentage of season ticket holders (84% of average attendance), the ticket yield remains low at £12.05 (21/22 £13.40). The comparative is probably misleading, as that will include our share of Wembley receipts for the playoff final.
It's clear that we could be doing much better on sponsorship and other commercial deals, and hopefully this is something that Bruce will be addressing as we move forward.
2. Wages
Increased to £25.6m from £16.3m (57%). Despite howls to the contrary, there’s nothing here to suggest we’re pennypinching in comparison to our rivals. Whilst some of the increase is down to the extra 40 admin staff, and a massive increase in matchday numbers, much of which will be down to the reopening of the PC, the bulk of the increase will be going to the football staff. It’d impossible to be precise, but I’d be amazed if less than two thirds of the wage bill is football related (around £16m).
3. Other operating costs
Essentially, the reason why we lose money despite our income being among the highest in the division. These are the non-wage overheads that reflect the cost of running PL infrastructure om Championship income. They might look high, but the perennial complaints about the condition of the stadium etc, suggests we aren’t spending enough. Which is a bit scary, when you think about it.
4. Player trading
This is a bit of a pain in the arse, to be honest, because out year end falls bang in the middle of the transfer window. If anyone from the club is reading this, for fuck’s sake follow the norm and change to 30 June.
So what we have here is the purchases in the accounts reflect Wilson. Ekwah, Lihadji, Anderson, Triantis, Bellingham, Seelt and Dack. Disposals reflect Xhemajli, Dunne, Winchester and Dajaku – and possibly Lihadji.
Those purchases amounted to £7.8m in total. What’s perhaps more interesting is that the contingent liabilities note discloses potential addons of £24.6m. up from £4.5m the year before, which suggests we’re offering an awful lot of jam tomorrow in our dealings.
5. Cash flow
It’s interesting to see that we were actually generating cash at the operating level. The cash shortfall that the owners covered was in respect of investment in fixed assets and transfers. This is actually encouraging, as it suggests we are actually sustainable at the operational level, and are only relying on the owners for capital spend.
6. Balance sheet
Pretty uncontentious. The bank account was in the black, and there’s no immediate suggestion of any difficulty.
Only one number is baffling me, and that a figure of £693k disclosed as assets under construction. The only thing I can think of is that it related to the new entry systems, which may not have been completed by then.
7. FFP
Given that academy and womens’ costs are excluded, it’s likely that our FFP loss is probably closer to £3-4m than the accounting loss. There’s therefore no immediate cause for concern
8. Conclusion
While the loss is a bit irritating, it’s more a reflection of the difficulties of making ends meet in this division and trying to be competitive at the same time. Overall I’m fairly happy.
1. Turnover
Increased to £35.5m from £26.1m (36%). All areas of income increased, but the bulk of it came from media receipts, a combination of the far more generous distribution to Championship clubs compared to L1, and out popularity with Sky for live fixture. I suspect we bring in much higher viewing figures than most of the clubs in the division. Gate receipts increased by £1.3m (18.9%), reflecting the 8-10% price increase from 21/22 and increased average gates. However, because of the generous concessions available, and the high percentage of season ticket holders (84% of average attendance), the ticket yield remains low at £12.05 (21/22 £13.40). The comparative is probably misleading, as that will include our share of Wembley receipts for the playoff final.
It's clear that we could be doing much better on sponsorship and other commercial deals, and hopefully this is something that Bruce will be addressing as we move forward.
2. Wages
Increased to £25.6m from £16.3m (57%). Despite howls to the contrary, there’s nothing here to suggest we’re pennypinching in comparison to our rivals. Whilst some of the increase is down to the extra 40 admin staff, and a massive increase in matchday numbers, much of which will be down to the reopening of the PC, the bulk of the increase will be going to the football staff. It’d impossible to be precise, but I’d be amazed if less than two thirds of the wage bill is football related (around £16m).
3. Other operating costs
Essentially, the reason why we lose money despite our income being among the highest in the division. These are the non-wage overheads that reflect the cost of running PL infrastructure om Championship income. They might look high, but the perennial complaints about the condition of the stadium etc, suggests we aren’t spending enough. Which is a bit scary, when you think about it.
4. Player trading
This is a bit of a pain in the arse, to be honest, because out year end falls bang in the middle of the transfer window. If anyone from the club is reading this, for fuck’s sake follow the norm and change to 30 June.
So what we have here is the purchases in the accounts reflect Wilson. Ekwah, Lihadji, Anderson, Triantis, Bellingham, Seelt and Dack. Disposals reflect Xhemajli, Dunne, Winchester and Dajaku – and possibly Lihadji.
Those purchases amounted to £7.8m in total. What’s perhaps more interesting is that the contingent liabilities note discloses potential addons of £24.6m. up from £4.5m the year before, which suggests we’re offering an awful lot of jam tomorrow in our dealings.
5. Cash flow
It’s interesting to see that we were actually generating cash at the operating level. The cash shortfall that the owners covered was in respect of investment in fixed assets and transfers. This is actually encouraging, as it suggests we are actually sustainable at the operational level, and are only relying on the owners for capital spend.
6. Balance sheet
Pretty uncontentious. The bank account was in the black, and there’s no immediate suggestion of any difficulty.
Only one number is baffling me, and that a figure of £693k disclosed as assets under construction. The only thing I can think of is that it related to the new entry systems, which may not have been completed by then.
7. FFP
Given that academy and womens’ costs are excluded, it’s likely that our FFP loss is probably closer to £3-4m than the accounting loss. There’s therefore no immediate cause for concern
8. Conclusion
While the loss is a bit irritating, it’s more a reflection of the difficulties of making ends meet in this division and trying to be competitive at the same time. Overall I’m fairly happy.
