Since Venky’s arrival in 2010, Rovers have only once made a
profit – in 2012 when last in the Premier League (boosted by £23m player
sales). In this period they have lost £172m, some achievement considering they
had two seasons in top flight followed by four with parachute payment.
Debt increased by £14m from £142m to £156m, thanks to
another loan from Venky’s, who the club now owe £141m. There is also a £14m
bank overdraft (guaranteed by Venky’s) and a £0.6m loan from the EFL. The £156m debt was the second highest in the
Championship, only below Stoke City £187m. In fact, they actually had the 9th
highest debt in England at the end of the 2019/20 season, partly because the
last time the club’s owners converted debt into equity was back in 2011
Most Championship debt is provided interest-free by owners,
which is the case with Venky’s loans. However, interest still increased from
£495k to £614k, due to paying 2.65% over LIBOR on the overdraft. Only 5 clubs
in this division paid more than £1m interest
Relatively small losses in 2016 and 2017 were due to decent
profits from player sales, but they have only made £5m from this activity in
the last three years. Performance was no better in 2020/21, as no meaningful
sales were made in the season just gone.
The financial challenge is highlighted by the fact that their
£13.5m revenue was third lowest in the Championship, only above Preston and
Wigan. For some perspective, this was only around a quarter of Fulham £58m, Leeds
£54m and WBA £54m.
Although the£22m loss is obviously not great, it is by no
means the worst in the Championship. Only three clubs posted a (small) profit
in 2019/20, while the largest losses were made by Stoke City £88m.
Revenue has more than halved since their £30.4m peak in the
Championship in 2014. It has dropped £41m (75%) since relegation from the
Premier League. In the first four years they benefited from £55m parachute
payments, but they lost this advantage in 2017
All three revenue streams were lower, mainly due to COVID:
commercial dropped £1.5m (27%) from £5.5m to £4.0m; match day fell £1.0m. Broadcasting remains the most important
revenue stream, accounting for 50% of their total revenue, followed by
commercial 30% and match day 20%%) from £3.7m to £2.7m; and broadcasting was
down £0.6m (8%) from £7.4m to £6.8m.
Despite the revenue decrease, costs still grew, due to
investment in the squad “to be competitive”, as wages rose £3.2m (14%) from
£22.4m to £25.6m. For some perspective,
this was £11m lower than their first season following relegation from the
Premier League in 2013 (when they had parachute payments).
The wages to
turnover ratio increased from 134% to 189%, which was even worse than the 187%
in League One two years ago. Most clubs in the Championship have unsustainable
wage bills, well over 100% of revenue, but Blackburn’s was the second highest
in the division.
Profit on player sales increased from £0.6m to £3.1m,
largely from David Raya’s move to Brentford, though this was one of the lowest
profits for this activity in the Championship, far below the likes of WBA £29m,
Bristol City £26m, Fulham £25m and Brentford £25m.
Transfer spend has significantly reduced following
relegation from the top flight, exacerbated by an FFP transfer embargo. In
fact, their gross outlay was only £17m in the last five years, compared to £45m
in the preceding five-year period. Low expenditure again in 2020/21
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