Everton pays down debt as revenues rocket
A RECORD Premier League points haul and the first year of the bumper new TV deal saw Everton break £100m turnover for the first time and report its best-ever profit.
Importantly too for the club, which is exploring options for a new purpose-built stadium at Walton Hall Park, Everton said its strong financial performance in the year to the end of May had allowed it to slash debt by £17m from more than £44m to £28.1m.
The club’s fifth-place finish in the Barclays Premier League saw turnover increase 39% from £86.4m to £120.5m. Including player trading – and the £28m sale of midfielder Fellaini to Manchester United in August 2013 – pretax profits rocketed from £5.8m to £33.4m.
Operating profit before player trading came in at £23m, compared with just £700,000 in 2012/13. The Premier League TV deal generated broadcast revenue of £88.5m for the year, exceeding Everton’s total turnover of £86.4m, for the previous year.
Whilst the increase in broadcast revenue accounted for the lion’s share of the increase in turnover and profits, commercial successes were also seen. An increase in average league attendances from 36,356 in 2012/13 to 37,732 in 2013/14 contributed to gate receipts increasing by £1.9m, to £19.3m.
Sponsorship, advertising and merchandising revenue also increased from £7.6m in 2013 to £8.4m as a consquence of new deals with Thai beer brand Chang and Kitbag.
As a result of strengthening the playing squad, staff costs rose by 10% to £69.3m. However, due to the significant rise in turnover, the club’s wages, as a percentage of turnover, fell to 58% from 73%.
The accounts do not include the impact of last summer’s transfer dealings, a highligh of which was a £20m+ purchase from Chelsea of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku.
Chief executive Robert Elstone said: “Our financial results highlight growing revenues, costs remaining under control and debt reducing, and when we combine that solid financial base with a playing squad that continues to improve and increase in value, we have every right to be confident and positive on future prospects.”
Writing in the annual report, chairman Bill Kenwright says of the proposed stadium move: “While we’re still in the very early stages of investigating the potential of this site, our aim is to work closely with all of our fans to ensure that, should the opportunity progress, it does so in a way that will delight Evertonians for generations to come.
“While the thought of possibly leaving our beloved Goodison Park brings a degree of sadness for us all, an opportunity to potentially have a new purpose built stadium right in our heartland which also enables us to play our part in the regeneration of our local community is something we must pursue.”
