Aston Villa’s accounts reveal importance of Premier League return
The scale of Aston Villa’s cost-cutting in the wake of relegation from the Premier League – and the importance of a swift return – has been laid out in documents just published.
Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia bought Aston Villa in June 2016 and the accounts for the group company, Recon Group UK, show the impact of the changes that were deemed necessary after a year that ended with the club losing its Premier League status and £80m.
One in four full-time jobs were cut, with 140 people leaving, and it used 420 fewer part-time staff.
It its financial year covering the 2016-17 season, Aston Villa reduced its wage bill by £31.5m. However its wages to turnover ratio was only reduced by two percentage points to 83%.
That’s because revenues were, as expected, hugely affected by relegation from the top flight.
Broadcasting revenue, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the club’s income, was down by £17m. Sponsorship revenues plummeted, from £11.8m to just £2.7m, while a drop of around 2,000 people in its average attendances cost £1.7m in gate receipts.
Aston Villa’s operating loss, before exceptional items, increased by nearly £5m, to £41.1m.
The club sold a number of players after relegation, including Ciaran Clark, Idrissa Gueye, Scott Sinclair and Adama Traore, and made a net profit of £26.6m in the transfer market.
Accounts for the 2015-16 season had been hugely affected by impairments, which resulted in total losses of more than £80m.
The club’s losses for 2016-17 were reduced to £14.5m, but still show the urgency of achieving its goal of returning to the Premier League.
A seven-game winning streak has boosted the chances of that happening this summer, with the club one point ahead in what appears to be a three-team battle for the second automatic promotion place.
