City will break even in ‘immediate future’ despite losses – CEO Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has claimed that he expects the English Premier League club to break even “in the immediate future” despite posting a net loss of £51.6m (€62.6m/$85.4m) for the 2012-13 financial year. Record annual turnover of £271m helped City to reduce its net loss from £97.9m the previous year, while the club said that it is, for the first time, operating with no financial debt, having paid off all remaining borrowings. City’s commercial income has rocketed from £15.7m in 2008-09 to £143m in the latest annual accounts, which were released just hours before the team played away at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League this (Wednesday) evening. Questions will be raised as to how City in the long run will be able to meet the Financial Fair Play regulations imposed by football’s European governing body Uefa, which has vowed to crack down on clubs that repeatedly live beyond their means. However, despite having posted total net losses of £149.5m over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial years, City would appear to have escaped sanctions by Uefa by bringing the figure down to the allowable £37m threshold for the two seasons by subtracting wages paid out for players signed before June 2010, according to the Independent newspaper. Soriano said that the “transformation” of the club, which was acquired by the Abu Dhabi United Group investment company in 2008 and immediately embarked on a spending spree that was unprecedented in football history, is “well underway and moving at a fast pace”. He cited improvements in the club’s commercial strategy and investment in infrastructure and digital ventures. Since the end of the club’s 2012-13 financial year, City has reportedly spent more than £84m on signing new players. “The club continues to grow while maintaining a path to sustainable profitability,” he added. “Financially, the club continues to improve. Growing revenues and controlled expenses are bringing the club to break even in the immediate future and profitability thereafter.” City generated £47m through selling the intellectual property rights of its brand to third parties and related parties, with total revenue having jumped from £231.1m in 2011-12.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:43:22 +0000
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