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Encouraging financial signs at AC Milan

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the accounts of AC Milan: https://swissramble.substack.com/p/milan-202122-finances

Milan have lost an amazing €900m in the last 10 years (pre-tax), but the situation has been improving with the club reducing losses in each of the last two years.

Although not one club in Serie A managed to post a profit at the operating level, Milan’s €68m was firmly in the bottom half of the table, albeit considerably better than Juventus €243m and Inter €168m. Based on the most recent accounts, no fewer than 10 clubs reported an operating loss over €50m.

The importance of European money to Milan’s business model is very clear. The Swiss Ramble reckons they have earned €61m to date this season with another €11m available if they beat Tottenham Hotspur to reach the quarter-finals.

Milan have been very reliant on increases in capital from their owners with over a billion Euros provided since 2010 to cover the club’s substantial losses. That includes €545m from Elliott in the last four years, though they only needed to inject €5m in 2021/22.   In fact, looking at the amount of owner funding in the three years up to 2021 (defined as share capital plus owner loans), no club in Europe received more funding than Milan’s €540m, which was well ahead of Juventus €298m and Chelsea €296m.

Unlike many leading clubs, Milan have made very little from player sales, only averaging €12m profit a year since 2013, including actually losing money in two of those years.

There remains much to do before the club is fully sustainable, as they still posted a €60m loss last season after all the improvements.   However, there are encouraging signs, as outlined by chairman Paolo Scaroni, “I am convinced that, thanks to Gerry Cardinale's strategic vision and RedBird's experience and expertise in sports and finance, we will be able to further strengthen the AC Milan of the future."


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