LFC Club Accounts 2016/17

LFC announces financial results for the year to May 31, 2017
LFC
Liverpool FC has filed its annual accounts for the financial year to May 31, 2017, which saw sustained growth and further investment across the club.

Summary

Overall revenue increased by £62m to £364m
Reported profit after tax £39m
Further net cash investment of £91m on players and infrastructure (£95m invested in FY2016)
Six new player signings
Work starts on new £50m training ground in the summer
12 new commercial partnerships
Profitability improved from a £21m loss in FY2016 to a reported profit after tax of £39m in FY2017. Cash generated from operations has continued to improve from £37m in FY2016 to £71m in FY2017. Overall net cash investment into the club over the two-year period is £78m.

Overall revenue increased to £364m resulting in reported profit after tax of £39m. Over the past seven years, the club has been transformed to a financially stable, sustainable and growing football club since Fenway Sports Group (FSG) took ownership in October 2010.

Media revenue increased by £30m to £154m with the first year of a three-season Premier League broadcast deal, and commercial revenue grew by £20m to £136m following another successful year announcing 12 new partnerships including Malaysia Airlines, Konami and Joie. Three existing partners also renewed their deals, further demonstrating the club’s global appeal and consistent value to established partners. New wholesale retail businesses have also been established in USA, Hong Kong, Canada and Holland.

It was in this financial period that LFC opened its expanded Main Stand which saw an increase in Anfield’s capacity to 54,074. And despite not playing in Europe during this financial period, matchday revenue increased by £12m to £74m mainly as a result in the increased hospitality sales. Following the continued cash investment in players and capital infrastructure, net bank debt increased by £22m to £67m which is sustainable given the overall growth of the club’s financial performance.

Improving how Liverpool connects digitally with its supporters continues to be a priority for the club and reported a five-million increase in new followers taking the total to over 55m across LFC’s social media platforms.

The club also increased its commitment to the local community by introducing a new programme that is dedicated to supporting people who live in and around Anfield. Red Neighbours was launched in January 2017 and provides a range of community support programmes including unique free match tickets for over 1,100 local schoolchildren, fitness programmes for elderly residents, and vital support to help local families tackle food poverty.

On the pitch, there were six additions to the first-team squad including Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, Loris Karius and Joel Matip. 11 first-team players left the club and seven renewed contracts. Youth players remain an important part of the club’s football strategy and 11 Academy players were offered professional contracts during this reporting period.

Andy Hughes, LFC’s chief operating officer, said: “With the full support of this ownership group, we have significantly improved the club’s financial position over the past seven years and these results further demonstrate our solid financial progress – despite the ever-rising costs in football.

“During the seven years, we have seen operating profits one year and losses in others, a situation which can be attributed, in the main, to player trading costs and the timing of payments. What is important is the underlying trend that has continued with the aim of strengthening our financial position with profits being reinvested back into the club and players, allowing this long-term stability to become a reality.

“In addition to the three-year Premier League TV deal, we have had a successful commercial year which included a new training kit partner in BetVictor, a record number of home shirts sold recognising the club’s 125th anniversary, and a successful first season with the opening of our expanded Main Stand.

“Giving back to the local community is also a priority for this football club and launching Red Neighbours during this period, in addition to the great work delivered by our Foundation, means we can support even more local people and initiatives.”

Liverpool maintained ninth position in the Deloitte football money league despite the rising cost of football and not playing in a European competition during this financial year. Since this reporting period, the club has continued its commercial progress and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

Hughes added: “These results are approaching a year old. Further progress and reinvestments have continued to be made both on and off the pitch.

“Our recent capital projects which include the Main Stand, the new retail store, the combined training ground and the new pitch at Anfield will be close to £200m which further demonstrates the commitment from this ownership.

“We continue to work up design, capacity and economic viability options for Anfield Road working with an architect to help with that process. This follows the same comprehensive process we followed with the Main Stand expansion.

“Performance on the pitch and the reinvestment in our squad is always a priority and following the club’s record signing in January we will look to invest again in the summer.

“Progress on and off the pitch is critical to the growth of this football club – we all want success and everything we’re doing is geared toward fulfilling our football ambitions. We must also continue to manage our finances and cash flow effectively that we have worked so very hard to secure since FSG took charge of the club.”

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/announcements/292412-lfc-announces-financial-results

Going to try to find their published statements somewhere now

Going to try to find their published statements somewhere now

Should be here. Watch this space.
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00035668/filing-history

Should be here. Watch this space.
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00035668/filing-history

Thanks mate!

so we exceeded Chelsea in terms of revenues and Chelsea won the league last season!!

Thanks mate!

so we exceeded Chelsea in terms of revenues and Chelsea won the league last season!!

Don't know how accurate this is but I found this. Decent illustration of the growth seen off the field. That said the growth is probably more or less equal to that of the other clubs in the PL. Will be interesting to see next season's figures what with extra tv money from the CL (don't know how much that is worth) along with more matchday income from those matches.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/251158/revenue-of-liverpool-fc-by-stream/

Thanks mate!

so we exceeded Chelsea in terms of revenues and Chelsea won the league last season!!

Both are largely independent of each other, though not completely independent.

Revenue only means that we either have more sponsorships (commercial revenue), match day and/or broadcast (media) revenue. We're £364m vs their £361m on revenue. The variance of 1% is rather small, so it's as good as the same revenue.

But having said that, their revenue increase was +9.8% year on year from £329m. Ours was +20.5% from a lower base of £302m. We had the new main stand which boosted match day revenue.

Their matchday revenue fell slightly as they played lesser matches. But broadcast and media revenue increased because they won the league and had more sponsors. 

In contrast, revenue increased for all 3 segments for us. Hardly anything to do with our results because we've a pent up demand for matchday tickets, even if the team performs poorly. We've new blocks of seats dedicated to high priced hospitality tickets, a natural revenue booster. And Anfield is always full. So a natural revenue increase from the new seats.

This year will be even better with the CL money coming in. We don't even have to win anything. Just make CL every year, get more sponsors, benefit from higher broadcast revenue and we'll do good on increasing revenue. Playing a few more or less matches will not make a big difference to match day revenue. One extra match at home here and there for cup matches only increases total revenue by less than 1%.

Focus on the big things that move the revenue. Broadcast revenue and sponsorships. And the CL money of course! Juve got almost £100m last year. Imagine we got that, revenue would be £464m (+27% difference).

Now you know why top 4 and CL is so important to the management and Arsene Wenger could last this long winning sh*te. Only us fans are talking about winning the league. Because management and fans are on different planets. Hahaha.

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2018/03/liverpool-fc-record-profit-new-tv-deal-main-stand-income/

This report states LFC accounts returned to profit with a surplus of £39m and the club are expected to strengthen their squad further in the summer.

Let's hope somebody tells JWH&Co the good news.

Oh f**k it's amateur accountant time 

Oh f**k it's amateur accountant time 

What is amateurish about referring to LFC's official financial statement for the current year?
Could it be the fact that it will illustrate that JWH&Co are not acting in the club's best interest and are not feeding the asset that is LFC.
They are primarily concerned with their own financial interests to the detriment of LFC.

What is amateurish about referring to LFC's official financial statement for the current year?
Could it be the fact that it will illustrate that JWH&Co are not acting in the club's best interest and are not feeding the asset that is LFC.
They are primarily concerned with their own financial interests to the detriment of LFC.

Or playing devil's advocate it shows that slowly the club is heading in the right direction on and off the pitch

Or playing devil's advocate it shows that slowly the club is heading in the right direction on and off the pitch

No one is doubting were making progress off the pitch, progress on the field will be judged on trophies won , and the ability to keep or top players here.

Being in the "mutant counter" profession, you should always be very careful when reading a set of stat accounts..

That being said, healthy increase in revenue, with champions league income to layer on top for this season as well as more commercial sponsors can only be good.

The one thing that did jump out at me in terms of club comments was "Six new players, incl Mane etc" with 11 first team squad departures.  Which to me tells me that squad wise we are increasing quality over quantity

“No way. Football clubs are not supposed to make money or have excess cash on their books. Whatever excess they have, must be reinvested in only players to improve the squad or it will represent a lack of ambition. The fans enjoyment of the team’s success every 90 minutes is of utmost importance to football clubs. Owners are not allowed to steal money from the club or they’ll be seen as selfish mercenaries taking fans ticket money for their own pockets.

They should invest to improve the squad till they go broke to show their love for the club. Beg, borrow or steal to pay record fees for the best players to gain footballing success. Never sell our best players even if we’re offered £500m to balance the books. Even if we get into financial strain. Selling your best player represents a lack of ambition.

Once broke, raise ticket prices to £500 per match to feed a world class squad. Then sell shares to fans. And raise £500m that will grow by 20% every season from shareholders to fund annual world record transfers, till the fans go broke. Fans and shareholders who refuse to or stop contributing to the world record transfer kitty will be labeled to have a lack of ambition. No rival will steal a match on us. Liverpool will by then have so much sporting success that people, fans or shareholders will go broke.”

We should be happy that the club is making money and finances are stable. Of course that example sounds rather extreme. Let the business earn enough to fund future transfers by itself comfortably. That’s what I call moving in the right direction. So long as the shareholders do not strip out any excess cash for themselves, the club will be fine for now. If this healthy financial position carries on, we will be in a great position to sustainably fund good transfers without straining financial resources in the future. 

“No way, the owners should throw £300m to Jürgen to buy players in the next window... who cares where they get the £300m. They really lack ambition”.

And there we go again... I bet you there’s no end to this.

No one is doubting were making progress off the pitch, progress on the field will be judged on trophies won , and the ability to keep or top players here.

And that's all I want for my birthday.

Or playing devil's advocate it shows that slowly the club is heading in the right direction on and off the pitch

"Heading in the right direction" is an indefinite, approximate suggestion.
Committed to ultimate success instead of accepting second or third placing as a reasonable status is not good enough for LFC.

Are we to lower expectation levels under JWH&Co? Seven years of empty trophy cabinets would suggest this is the case.

“No way. Football clubs are not supposed to make money or have excess cash on their books. Whatever excess they have, must be reinvested in only players to improve the squad or it will represent a lack of ambition. The fans enjoyment of the team’s success every 90 minutes is of utmost importance to football clubs. Owners are not allowed to steal money from the club or they’ll be seen as selfish mercenaries taking fans ticket money for their own pockets.

They should invest to improve the squad till they go broke to show their love for the club. Beg, borrow or steal to pay record fees for the best players to gain footballing success. Never sell our best players even if we’re offered £500m to balance the books. Even if we get into financial strain. Selling your best player represents a lack of ambition.

Once broke, raise ticket prices to £500 per match to feed a world class squad. Then sell shares to fans. And raise £500m that will grow by 20% every season from shareholders to fund annual world record transfers, till the fans go broke. Fans and shareholders who refuse to or stop contributing to the world record transfer kitty will be labeled to have a lack of ambition. No rival will steal a match on us. Liverpool will by then have so much sporting success that people, fans or shareholders will go broke.”

We should be happy that the club is making money and finances are stable. Of course that example sounds rather extreme. Let the business earn enough to fund future transfers by itself comfortably. That’s what I call moving in the right direction. So long as the shareholders do not strip out any excess cash for themselves, the club will be fine for now. If this healthy financial position carries on, we will be in a great position to sustainably fund good transfers without straining financial resources in the future. 

“No way, the owners should throw £300m to Jürgen to buy players in the next window... who cares where they get the £300m. They really lack ambition”.

And there we go again... I bet you there’s no end to this.

That's quite a rant! But I challenge you to find a single post where anyone is asking for money we don't have to be spent! I've heard this so many times from FSG fans, but its not factual.
Is it too much to hope that we can bring players to the club without regularly selling top players to cover the cost? Will we get to that level before Salah is sold too do you think?

"Heading in the right direction" is an indefinite, approximate suggestion.
Committed to ultimate success instead of accepting second or third placing as a reasonable status is not good enough for LFC.

Are we to lower expectation levels under JWH&Co? Seven years of empty trophy cabinets would suggest this is the case.

Heading in the right direction now for 7 years, it's a long bloody road isn't it?

"Heading in the right direction" is an indefinite, approximate suggestion.

Only if you want it to be:

Extended the Main Stand
Redeveloped and expanded the main club shop
In the process of re-developing the Academy / Melwood so that there are better training facilities for the players
A number of financially-successful end of season and pre-season tours to different parts of the globe, raising far more in terms of revenue than the club did under previous owners

There is also the possibility of an additional extension of the Anfield Road end too

Is it too much to hope that we can bring players to the club without regularly selling top players to cover the cost? Will we get to that level before Salah is sold too do you think?

What people fail to understand is that clubs in general have far less influence over this than they used to. Your question implies that it is down to us and that we sold Suarez / Coutinho / Sterling / Torres because we wanted the money ... it wasn't - those players went because the players wanted to go.

It's much harder in this day and age to keep players against their will. Look at Mahrez at Leicester and how well he is doing ... there's a very real risk that the player will worsen and his value will drop. Similarly, if the club lets his contract run down too much then they could end up where we currently are with Can and loose them for nothing.

It doesn't matter who we are .... Salah will go if Salah wants to go. If Salah wants to go then he will go when we get the right offer, but go he will. It's pretty much down to the player these days.

What people fail to understand is that clubs in general have far less influence over this than they used to. Your question implies that it is down to us and that we sold Suarez / Coutinho / Sterling / Torres because we wanted the money ... it wasn't - those players went because the players wanted to go.

It's much harder in this day and age to keep players against their will. Look at Mahrez at Leicester and how well he is doing ... there's a very real risk that the player will worsen and his value will drop. Similarly, if the club lets his contract run down too much then they could end up where we currently are with Can and loose them for nothing.

It doesn't matter who we are .... Salah will go if Salah wants to go. If Salah wants to go then he will go when we get the right offer, but go he will. It's pretty much down to the player these days.

If Salah see the club showing ambition and actually wins some major trophies then he'll likely have no desire to leave. I wouldn't keep a player against his will, lets make his decision to stay easier.

As for Can, I can't honestly see why he he would want to go to Juve, when he can play in the PL with Liverpool, but each to their own.

Only if you want it to be:

Extended the Main Stand
Redeveloped and expanded the main club shop
In the process of re-developing the Academy / Melwood so that there are better training facilities for the players
A number of financially-successful end of season and pre-season tours to different parts of the globe, raising far more in terms of revenue than the club did under previous owners

There is also the possibility of an additional extension of the Anfield Road end too

Who paid for the project's you indicate?
 The owners it seems do not have faith enough in their investment to use their own capital and loaned the club the money to complete the project's mentioned.

While this lack of Faith continues a lack of resounding success will continue also.

Who paid for the project's you indicate?
 The owners it seems do not have faith enough in their investment to use their own capital and loaned the club the money to complete the project's mentioned.

While this lack of Faith continues a lack of resounding success will continue also.

Does it really matter?

They are dragging the club into the 21st century, first rate facilities and a stadium that holds up amount the best. Own capital or not, the money being spent is doing a lot of good

Does it really matter?

They are dragging the club into the 21st century, first rate facilities and a stadium that holds up amount the best. Own capital or not, the money being spent is doing a lot of good

"Dragging the club" does not inspire the confidence you seem to have in our errant owners.
"First rate facilities" and a well good stadium has very little in common with what we desire most - trophies and success,

"Dragging the club" does not inspire the confidence you seem to have in our errant owners.
"First rate facilities" and a well good stadium has very little in common with what we desire most - trophies and success,

"Dragging the club" was to highlight how we should have been doing all the things we are now back in 2005.

I agree most fans want trophies and want success... However this work is also important and not to be snuffed at in my opinion.

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2018/03/liverpool-fc-record-profit-new-tv-deal-main-stand-income/

This report states LFC accounts returned to profit with a surplus of £39m and the club are expected to strengthen their squad further in the summer.

Let's hope somebody tells JWH&Co the good news.

This story is getting some balls, the Guardian also runs with the same report, if true this could mean we, or rather FSG have turned a corner..