Birmingham City FC sheds light on finances to woo suitors

BIRMINGHAM City Football Club has cleared the way for a potential takeover by shedding some light on its financial performance.

The club’s Hong Kong-based owners Birmingham International Holdings have issued three profit alerts to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which show that while it made a “significant loss” in the year 2010/11 – the season the club was relegated from the Premier League – it recovered enough in the subsequent year to reach profit.

Transfer revenue and a reduction in player expenses helped the club to claw back some of its lost ground.

The latest of the three statements said: “Based on a preliminary review of the group’s unaudited consolidated management accounts for the year ended June 30, 2012, the group is expected to record a profit for the year ended June 30, 2012 which is a significant improvement as compared to the financial results of the group for the year ended June 30, 2011.”

The announcements could persuade potential suitors that the struggling Championship club may be a more attractive proposition than previously thought.

However, the first alert stressed how difficult the club had found relegation from football’s top flight, even taking into account the club’s victory in the Carling Cup that season.

It said: “Based on a preliminary review of the group’s unaudited consolidated management accounts for the year ended June 30, 2011, the group is expected to record a significant net loss attributable to the shareholders of the company for the year ended June 30, 2011.

“The board believes that the expected loss for the year ended June 30, 2011 is primarily due to impairment loss on intangible assets and goodwill and amortisation of intangible assets of a subsidiary engaged in football club operation in the UK.”