Anfield club makes first profit for seven years
LIVERPOOL FC are attributing their first profit for seven years to the Premier League broadcasting deal which boosted its revenue to £255.6m.
In the year ending May 31 2014, the club’s pre-tax profit was £900,000, compared to a loss of £49.8m for 2013.
The recovery is good news for Fenway Sports Group which took over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett five years ago.
Meanwhile, UEFA has cleared the club of financial fair play breaches after viewing the club’s accounts following the 2012-13 deficit and a £40.5m loss prior to that.
The Anfield club’s turnover rose by 19% in 2013-14 as media revenue soared 46% to £100.9m as a result of the current television contract.
Commercial revenue has also risen 5% to £103.8m since then thanks to deals with New Balance and Nivea.
However, player transfers pushed the club’s net debt from £12.2m to £57.3m, but Liverpool’s overall debt has decreased from £237m when FSG took over in 2010.
Chief executive, Ian Ayre, said: “We continue to make good financial progress. Although these results are nearly 12 months old, they demonstrate that the transitional period we’ve been through over the past four years has stabilised the club and provided a platform for growth.
“Revenue has been consistently increasing from around £170m in 2009 to over £250m today and our commercial revenues continue to add strength to our overall results.”
Mr Ayre added that match-day revenue also increased by £5m, mainly as a result of the club’s successful pre-season tour in Asia and Australia. He said the club would now look to grow this area, following the announcement of the main stand expansion at its Anfield stadium.
