The authoritative Swiss Ramble blogger reviews the recently published accounts of Bristol City. The club reported a £11m profit before tax, a significant improvement on the prior season’s £25m loss, mainly thanks to profit on player sales surging from hardly anything in 2017/18 to £38m last season.
The £11m profit would have been third highest in the 2017/18 Championship, only behind Norwich City and Derby County £15m (though the latter included £40m stadium sale profit). This is very good, considering most clubs lose money in this ultra-competitive division.
However, this great result was only achieved because of the substantial £38m profit on player sales. Player trading has become increasingly important at Bristol City with £52m profits in the last three years, compared to only £6m in the preceding seven years. Lansdown said: 'Without being mean, players are a commodity. They come and go, they have a value and we need to realise that value.' Profits were boosted by selling Academy players, whose transfer fees are pure profit in the books. As Lansdown said, player trading 'is all part and parcel of the process' of making the club sustainable.
This is the first time that Bristol City have delivered a profit under owner Steve Lansdown, following their highest ever loss of £25m in 2017/18. In fact, the club’s losses added up to £124m in the previous 10 seasons before the 2018/19 turnaround.
Revenue also rose, commercial income increasing £4.6m (39%) to £16.1m, though broadcasting was also up £0.4m (5%) to £8.1m. On the other hand, match day income fell £0.7m (10%) to £6.0m. Match day income fell 10% (£0.7m) to £6.0m, as the FA Cup run to the fifth round did not fully compensate for reaching the Carabao Cup semi-final the previous season.
Revenue has more than doubled since their first season back in the Championship, from £14m in 2016 to £30m in 2019. Most of that growth is commercial, which has nearly tripled from £5.6m to £16.1m. There were also increases in broadcasting £3.4m and match day £2.1m.
Despite the growth, Bristol City £30m revenue is still only 10th highest in the Championship, less than half of some of the clubs benefiting from parachute payments in 2017/18. If parachute payments were to be excluded, it would be a very different story. In this case, Bristol City £30m would be the fourth highest revenue in the Championship, only £11m below the leader (Leeds United, £41m), which would give them a very decent chance of making the play-offs.
Attendances have significantly increased since promotion from League One, rising 80% from 11,681 to 20,949. The redevelopment of the Ashton Gate stadium (capacity 27,000), shared with Bristol rugby club and also used for major concerts, has helped generate revenue. That said, Bristol City average attendance of 20.949 was only the 12th highest in the Championship, around 15,000 less than Leeds United. The club did have a record number of season ticket sales for 2018/19, despite some controversy over the pricing scheme.
The wage bill rose £3.4m (12%) to £30.6m in 2017/18, which means that it has increased by £13.2m (76%) since the first season after promotion from League One in 2016. The wages to turnover ratio slightly improved from 105% to 101%. The £31m wage bill is still firmly in the bottom half of the Championship, a long way below the likes of Aston Villa £73m, Fulham £54m (both with parachute payments) and Wolves £51m (including promotion bonus).
The club had £10m player purchases, including Webster, Weimann, Hunt, Eisa and Watkins. Lower than previous seasons (17/18 £12m, 16/17 £14m), but £36m over last three seasons much more than £8m in preceding three seasons. Still massively outspent by Boro £66m and Fulham £31m.
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