The Swiss Ramble runs the rule over the latest Chelsea accounts from his Zurich fastness.
Chelsea’s pre-tax tax loss widened from £36m to £156m (£153m
after tax), mainly due to profit on player sales falling £115m from £143m to
£28m, though revenue rose £28m (7%) from £407m to £435m, while there was £13m
other operating income.
The £156m pre-tax
loss is the largest reported to date in the 2020/21 Premier League, higher than
Spurs £80m and Manchester United £24m. However, there were plenty of big losses
already reported in 2019/20 and other clubs will be worse with a full year of
the pandemic reflected.
The £153m loss after tax is by no means the largest in
Europe. In fact, it is “beaten” by Inter £215m, Juventus £184m, Roma £163m and
especially Barcelona £422m.
The huge loss was partly due to COVID, but was also driven
by significant investment in the squad, mitigated by Champions League success.
The strategy is very reliant on player trading, which did not deliver as much
as normal in 2020/21, though figures will be better this year.
Chelsea have
posted profits in three of the last five years, though still had a £139m net
deficit in this period, due to large losses in 2019 and 2021. Last season’s
£156m loss is actually the second largest in Premier League history with
Chelsea responsible for 10 of the top 25 losses.
Player trading
Profit on player sales slumped from £143m to £28m, mainly
from Victor Moses to Spartak Moscow and Nathan to Atletico Mineiro.
Nevertheless, this is still highest to date in the 2020/21 Premier League,
while few clubs will make big money in the restrained transfer market.
Chelsea’s business
model is far more reliant on player sales than any other major English club. In
the 5 years up to 2020, Chelsea made an astonishing £434m from this activity,
which was almost as much as the next highest clubs combined (Liverpool £276m and Everton £208m). they have generated six of the 20
largest profits in England from player trading, including the highest ever of
£143m in 2019/20.
Following £31m
sales, net spend in 2020/21 was £189m. This means that in the last five years
their gross transfer spend was just shy of a billion (£992m), while net spend
was almost half a billion (£465m). They
have spent £110m since accounts, mainly on Romelu Lukaku from Inter.
Revenue
Clearly revenue
was significantly impacted by COVID. The Swiss Ramble has estimated the revenue
loss as £96m in 2020/21 (match day £66m, commercial £26m and broadcasting £4m).
Added to the £31m shortfall in 2019/20, that would give a total of £128m lost
in the last 2 years
The main reason
that revenue rose 7% was £91m (50%) increase in broadcasting from £183m to
£274m, mainly due to deferred revenue from 2019/20, which offset COVID driven
reductions in match day, down £47m (86%) to £8m, and commercial, down £17m
(10%) to £154m.
The £106m revenue
growth in the past five years has been significantly outpaced by Liverpool
£188m (2019/20 figure) and Spurs £151m. On the other hand, both Manchester
United and Arsenal have seen their revenue fall in this period, by £21m and £7m
(2019/20) respectively.
Nevertheless, the
£435m revenue is fourth highest in the Premier League, though only three of the
Big Six clubs have published 2020/21 accounts. For this period, Chelsea are a
fair way behind Manchester United £494m, but are well ahead of Spurs £360m, so
retain the title of highest revenue in London.
The Swiss Ramble
estimates that Chelesa earned €121m for winning the Champions League, just
ahead of fellow finalists Manchester City €120m. Much more than prior season’s
€79m for reaching the last 16. Difference with Europa League is stark, as
semi-finalists Arsenal only received €29m.
Despite not
qualifying for Europe in 2016/17, Chelsea have earned an impressive €311m from
Europe in the last five years (winning both the Champions League and Europa
League in this time), though still a fair way behind Manchester City €422m and Liverpool
€361m.
Significant cost growth: wages rose £49m (17%) to £333m,
player amortisation up £35m (27%) to £162m (plus £18m impairment), £24m for
“ongoing legal matters” and a £6m flip to £1m interest payable. Other expenses
cut £15m (16%) to £81m, including lower match day costs.
Wages
The wage bill shot up £50m (17%) from £283m to £333m, due to
new signings, contract extensions and bonuses for winning the Champions League.
This means that wages have increased by £113m (52%) in just 4 years.
As recently as
2015, Chelsea had the highest wage bill in the Premier League, but they were
down to 4th in 2020. Following the step increase in 2021, they are currently
second highest, only behind Manchester City £351m, though some have not yet
published 2020/21 accounts.
The wages to
turnover ratio increased from 70% to 77%, the club’s highest since 2010. This
is not too bad, given the revenue lost to COVID, but is significantly worse
than Manchester United 65% and (particularly) Spurs 57%.
The £30m football
club debt is one of the lowest in the Premier League, though their £1.4 bln
holding company debt would be much higher than Tottenham Hotspur £854m (mainly
new stadium), Manchester United £530m (even after all the Glazers’
re-financings), Everton £409m, Brighton £306m and Liverpool £268m.
Generous owner
Since Abramovich acquired Chelsea, he has put £1.4 bn into
the club (including £20m in 2021), of which £400m is share capital. Most of
this funding has been seen on the pitch with a massive £1.2 bn spent on players
(net), while £179m went on infrastructure.
To further
illustrate the Russian’s generosity, in the 10 years up to 2020 he put £559m
into Chelsea, the second highest of any Premier League owner, only surpassed by
Manchester City £837m. In stark contrast, only £15m was provided by the owners
at Arsenal and Spurs – combined.
The clubn confirmed they have complied with UEFA and Premier
League financial regulations (i.e. FFP) and expect to do so for the foreseeable
future. The reported loss over the 3-year monitoring period is offset by
allowable deductions and special dispensation for COVID impact.
For games played
with fans, the 2019/20 attendance of 40,563 was only 9th highest in England
(4th best in London). Helps explain why club wanted to upgrade stadium to
60,000, but £1 bln development been put on hold, officially “due to current
unfavourable investment climate”.
Chairman Bruce Buck was positive overall, but added a note
of caution, “Our revenue streams remain strong. However, COVID-19 will continue to have an
impact going into the next financial year as our commercial operations resume
normal activities.”
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