Leeds United back in the black as player trading boosts finances

Leeds United has returned to profit in a year it called a “thrilling ride” which it says has left the club on track for a successful period on and off the field.

The latest accounts for Leeds United Football Club Ltd show a pre-tax profit of £976,367 for the year to the end of June 2017, compared to a loss of £8.9m the prior year period.

Turnover rose to £34.1m from £30.1m the year before.

The club saw its finances boosted through player trading which grew by £6.1m to £8.9m, which included the sale of Lewis Cook to Bournemouth AFC. Transfer spend invested into the first team playing squad totalled £6.8m during the year compared to £6.3m.

However, despite strong revenue growth and improvements in operational cost control, the business required a £14.5m cash injection from new owner Andrea Radrizzani to “maintain operations and improve on-field competitiveness”, the club said.

In January 2017 Andrea Radrizzani acquired a 50% stake in United, acquiring the remaining stake from Massimo Cellino that May.

The club also said it converted £5,000,000 of debt due to Eleonora Sport Limited into share capital, further strengthening the balance sheet. Meanwhile, following the launch of its technical partnership with Kappa last year, retail income continued to grow with sales rising to £5.8m.

Average home league attendance in the season was 27,698. This figure was up by 5,250 from 22,448 the previous season.

The club said: “Once again the club has continued to carefully manage its operating cost base effectively- first team playing wages represented 47% of turnover compared to 50% during the prior financial year whilst the club finished six League positions higher during the most recent campaign.”