Very good financial results for Celtic

Celtic’s financial results for 2023/24 were very good, as they posted a £17.8m pre-tax profit (£13.4m after tax). That said, this was down £22.9m from the previous year’s huge £40.7m profit, though in fairness that was a record for Scottish clubs.

This was mainly because 2022/23 included a couple of material once-off items, amounting to £13.5m, made up of a £10m business interruption insurance claim and £3.5m compensation received from Tottenham for Ange Postecoglou.

In addition, profit from player sales more than halved from £14.4m to £6.6m, though revenue rose £5m (4%) from £120m to £125m, which was a new record for the club (and indeed Scotland). However, operating expenses increased by £9m (8%) to £117m.

Celtic have managed to grow their revenue by £41m (49%) since before the pandemic, up from £83m in 2018/19 to £125m. In fact, they have set a new club record in each of the last two seasons with decent growth in all three revenue streams.  The expectation is that Celtic’s revenue will further increase this season, thanks to the uplift in the Champions League TV deal.

The main reason for Celtic’s revenue increase was more money from the Champions League, which resulted in broadcasting growing £5.2m (17%) from £31.2m to £36.4m. Commercial also grew £0.9m (2%) from £37.7m to £38.6m, thanks to stronger retail performance, but match day fell £1.4m (3%) from £51.0m to £49.6m.

Despite last season’s reduction, Celtic’s £17.8m profit before tax is still comfortably the best financial result in Scotland. For some perspective, only two other clubs managed to post a profit in the previous season – and they were much smaller amounts (Aberdeen £1.1m and Hearts £0.3m).

While Celtic have been successful in increasing their revenue, establishing financial domination in Scotland, they have been significantly outpaced by their foreign opponents.

Southampton, the club that finished last in the Premier League in 2022/23, had £146m revenue, which was £21m more than Celtic’s record-breaking £125m.  The English club earned much less in match day and commercial and obviously received nothing from Europe, but all of that was obliterated by the £108m they got from the lucrative Premier League broadcasting deal, which was miles ahead of Celtic’s £4m.

Player sales success

Celtic’s bottom line was boosted by £6.6m profit from player sales, though this was less than half of the prior year’s £14.4m. This was mainly due to the sales of Liel Abada to Charlotte FC, Carl Starfelt to Celta Vigo, David Turnbull to Cardiff City and Yosuke Ideguchi to Vissel Kobe.

The club has delivered an impressive £140m of profits from player sales in the last ten years. In 2021/22 the £29m club high was mainly achieved by three transfers to English clubs, namely Odsonne Eduoard to Crystal Palace, Kristoffer Ajer to Brentford and Ryan Christie to Bournemouth.

This season’s figure will also be boosted by a big money sale to the Premier League, namely Matt O’Riley to Brighton. Other deals took Mikey Johnston to WBA, Hyeon-gyu Oh to Genk and Sead Haksabanovic to Malmö.

Celtic earned €36.8m (£32m) TV money from the Champions League in 2023/24, which was £16.4m more than Rangers’ €20.2m (£18m) from the Europa League, which included €5m prize money after losing in the Champions League play-off round.

To state the obvious, European qualification is extremely important for Celtic, who have earned €99m from Europe in the last five years. This was €14m more than Rangers’ €85m, thanks to playing in the Champions League in the last two seasons.

Celtic’s wage bill rose £5m (8%) from £61m to £66m, a new club high, due to investment in the squad and football management team, as well as inflation across the business.  Celtic’s wage bill puts them at a competitive disadvantage in the Champions League, e.g. their £66m is less than half of three of this season’s opponents (Borussia Dortmund £233m, Aston Villa £194m and RB Leipzig £167m).

This is obviously an excellent set of financial results, as Celtic set a new Scottish record for revenue, while also maintaining tight control over the cost base, which produced another large profit.  The bigger challenge for Celtic is whether they can build on their many domestic accomplishments, so that they can be more competitive on the European stage.