Yorkshire County Cricket Club back in the black

SPORTING body the Yorkshire County Cricket Club is back in the black for the first time in seven years.

After an increase in funding from the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Club reported pre-tax profits of £368,000 for the year to 31 December 2015.

This is the first time the club has been in profit since 2009.

Revenues increased to £8.4m, up from £7.3m in 2014.

The England and Wales Cricket Board increased funding by £200,000 to £2.4m due to player representation on the England team.

Wage bills increased by £358,000, as a larger squad covered those players representing England.

Overall costs slightly increased to £7.8m, up £1m on the year before, and the club received a £700,000 grant from the ECB to fund floodlight installations, which cost £1.5m.

This follows the appointment of Costcutter entrepreneur Colin Graves as ECB chairman in March 2015, after which the club had to refinance to become financially independent.

Loans of £18.9m have been advanced from the Graves family trusts, which are independent from Colin Graves.

This refinancing has allowed loans from Mr Graves, the Graves family trusts and Leeds City Council to be repaid. Leeds City Council accepted £6.5m in settlement of the £7.4m capital outstanding on the loan.

The Club’s annual interest bill was reduced by £300,000 per year.

Paul Hudson, finance director, said: “We have made further progress in 2015 and to report an annual profit for the first time since 2009 is a significant step forward.
“It is gratifying that turnover in all areas has increased consistently over the past three years and we expect this trend to continue in 2016.

“The successful completion of the Club’s refinancing was a watershed and we are confident that the existing debt is now at a manageable level. The Club is in a stronger financial position than it has been at any time in recent years.”

Jonathan Simms and Kaira Clarehugh of Clarion acted for Yorkshire County Cricket Club