Bristol City’s pre-tax loss in 2022/23 reduced by £6.3m from £28.5m to £22.2m (loss after tax £22.1m), as revenue rose £6.9m (23%) from £29.7m to a club record £36.6m and profit from player sales shot up from £1.3m to £9.5m. On the other hand, operating expenses increased by £7.7m (13%) to £65.3m and net interest payable was up £0.9m (44%) to £3.1m. (13 month figures)
The main reason for the higher income was commercial, which
grew by more than a third (£5.6m) from £15.8m to £21.4m, but the other revenue
streams also increased. Match day rose £1.1m (21%) from £5.2m to £6.3m, while
broadcasting was £0.2m higher at £8.9m. It
is worth noting the importance to Bristol City of commercial income, which now
accounts for 58% of total revenue, compared to 24% from broadcasting and 17%
from match day. City had the 6th highest
attendance in the Championship in 2022/23, though they were a fair way below
the likes of Sunderland 38,480 and Sheffield United 28,746.
Bristol City’s revenue is actually one of the highest in the
Championship – if you exclude the clubs that benefit from parachute payments.
Their revenue is nearly twice as much as the Robins, e.g. Norwich City had £76m
last season, while Sheffield United and WBA had £67m and £65m respectively in
2021/22.
That said, City do enjoy a decent revenue advantage over
most clubs in the division, so arguably should be performing a bit better than
their league finishes in recent seasons.
Even after reducing the loss two years in a row, the harsh
reality is that Bristol City continue to lose money. As Finance Director Tom
Rawcliffe wryly observed, “A loss of £22.2m is not insignificant.”
Large losses are nothing new for City, as they have only
managed to generate a profit once in the last decade, i.e. £11m in 2019, thanks
to a hefty £38m profit from player sales.
In that period, the club has lost a substantial £155m before tax,
including £89m in the last three seasons alone (though that was obviously
adversely impacted by COVID).
Championship realities
Only two Championship clubs have to date published accounts
for 2022/3, but City’s pre-tax loss is clearly on the high side for the
division, looking at other clubs’ results from the previous season.
Clubs with the largest losses are frequently those that are
promoted to the Premier League, partly reflecting investment in the squad, but
also the hefty bonus payments (or price of success).
Very few clubs make money in this incredibly competitive
division, though Hull City, WBA, Peterborough United and Blackpool did manage
to post a profit in 2021/22. Stoke City’s massive £102m reported profit is
misleading, as this would actually have been an £18m loss without the benefit
of a £120m exceptional loan waiver.
City’s figures were boosted by a £9.5m profit from player
sales, up from just £1.3m in the previous season, largely due to the sale of
Antoine Semenyo to Bournemouth, though Daniel Bentley’s more to Wolves should
also have generated a decent gain.
This was a pretty good result in the Championship, where
clubs usually make very little from player trading. Traditionally, the only
ones that do well here are those that have recently been relegated from the
Premier League, which highlights another benefit such clubs enjoy on top of
parachute payments.
City had the 6th highest attendance in the Championship in
2022/23, though they were a fair way below the likes of Sunderland 38,480 and
Sheffield United 28,746.
Even after including the 13th month, City’s £36.0m wages
were still a lot lower than the amounts paid by those clubs benefiting from
parachute payments, e.g. Bournemouth £61m in 2021/22 and Norwich City £56m last
season. City’s wages should come down
this season following the departure of some higher earners, who have been
offloaded on free transfers, such as Jay Dasilva, Tomas Kalas, Taylor Moore and
Han-Noah Massengo.
For many years Bristol City have been dependent on funding
from Lansdown, which the club described as “very generous”. That’s a fair
description, given that it is estimated that the owner has put in around £255m
to date, which is a huge commitment.
The latest set of accounts does contain some bright spots,
such as the improvement in commercial operations and the return to profitable
player trading, but the need for financial support from the owners shows little
sign of going away.
With Bristol City currently sitting just outside the play-off
places, there is a lot to play for this season.
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