Celtic’s annual results for the year to 30 June 2021 were released this morning. This was an exceptional year as the stadium was closed to spectators for the entire season, although, as the figures demonstrate, season ticket sales, or the ‘Pass to Paradise’, made a crucial contribution to the club’s health.
Finances to the previous year, to 30 June 2020, was impacted by the curtailment of that season and millions of pounds of refunds, so our normal comparisons at this time are moot, it has been two full years since the club traded normally.
Income fell almost £10m to £60.8m. This is £23m less than the year to June 2019 but still significantly higher than the £52m in Ronny Deila’s last season, to June 2016. Operating expenses soared above income at £74.4m, leaving an operating loss of £11.5m. A year earlier, the club effectively broke even, having made a profit in each of the four prior years.
A straight £5m of Other Income was recorded during the year. I expect this will be HMRC Business Support, Covid-19 related.
The sales of Jeremie Frimpong and Patryk Klimala brought in a net £9.4m after sell-on payments, principally to Manchester City for Frimpong. Despite the disappointing season, £13.5m was spent on player acquisitions, with Vasilis Barkas and Albian Ajeti making up the bulk of that figure. The year-end cash figure, net of bank borrowings, was £16.6m, not much changed from the previous year’s £18.2m.
With all the bars and kiosks closed, Football and Stadium operations income fell the most, from £35.8m to £20.8m. The biggest surprise in any part of the figures was the rise in Merchandising sales, from £15.0m to £22.6m. Considering that in-person retailing was inhibited for much of the year, this is a stunning increase in what I assume was online sales. The commercial metaphorically department kicked every ball.
The club paid £630k to settle contract terminations, Neil Lennon’s severance will feature heavily here.
So much went wrong with last season it is remarkable that we are able to report losses of ‘only’ £11.5m and a positive cash balance, my early season expectations were that we would be in overdraft on 30 June.
With hospitality, Stadium Operations and ticket sales for European and cup games, income should push towards £80m this season.
We have talked here about Asset Management for 17 years. The post-year player sales indicate that despite horrible performances on the field, our player asset values were very high. With a different manager, who knows?
Player purchases in the summer were concentrated around the 26-year-old age group. There is less room for asset appreciation in this new squad as there was among players we sold this year, so either we sell our new stars very soon, or we accept they will leave later in their careers for nominal or no fees. That decision will fall to a new chief executive, I expect few would be bold enough to announce thier arrival with a sale of assets, so expect to keep our main talent for a while.
That is a problem for the business model, one we have not seen since Martin O’Neill’s great team died on its feet, with a huge wage bill and no resale value. Fortunately, this squad can address the problem by winning the league and delivering compensating income from the Champions league, so no pressure now. Strategically, we need to get back to maximising Asset Management potential as soon as possible. Failure to do so always ends in clubs having to pull back eventually.
As a community, Pass to Paradise subscribers, staff and executives, we navigated the club through a year of genuine systemic threat in good shape.
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TURKEYBHOY on 22ND SEPTEMBER 2021 11:42 AM
Israel
78% of over 12 are vaccinated.
60% of total population vaccinated
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/24/why-is-covid-surging-in-highly-vaccinated-israel-and-what-can-australia-learn-from-it
@T.B. “Can anyone really imagine the state we would be in if there had been no vaccine..”
Aye me…..i Remember back in the day we had to do a Thesis on “The Spanish Flu” 50-100mill
worldwide wiped out in a very short time..The images that project conjured up were horrible….
Death at the end choking ,lungs filled with fluid..face discoloured ….and gone..
And i suppose farther back The Black Death…and more recent times what they termed at first…
“The Gay Plague”……Ebola.. and at this time in our History Covid….If the vaccine manages to save
1% of all us trialists then the next generation surely have a chance to reap the benefit of good health.
i
WHAT IS THE STARS on 21ST SEPTEMBER 2021 10:14 PM
‘ (a man in a cave watching you tube videos has been trying to warn us)’
###
You make him sound like bin Laden.
As I understand it he lives in a house fashioned from a cave, which in that climate is an elegant and practical use of the available material resources.
He’s still wrong on this though and I just hope his pig headedness doesn’t come back to bit him, as it were.
new article posted.
Ernie @9.15.
Makes sense.Thanks.
JHB
Like you I speak from facts so here is my perspective.
In May 2013 I met Peter Lawwell and the lack professionalism at the SFA was raised. He agreed but said a Dougie Dougie moment was required to bring about change.
He was fed Dougie Dougie material from May 2013 when alerted it existed but when Canalamar’s Res12 seeking UEFA involvement was deemed unnecessary at and before the 2013 AGM the question why the material provided was not considered was rightly raised at a meeting with 2 requisitioners before the AGM and that led to an impasse on the day.
The following day the idea of an adjournment was raised after a chance meeting with BRTH and Company Lawyer. BRTH posted on CQN why at the time. I think it was the Comp Lawyer who mentioned it, Id have to check.
The thing is at no time over the two days did Celtic say what you say. To shorten it the words ‘its not in the Company’s interest to pursue this lads’ followed up with your reasoning.
I suspect that by 2018 our host was told something on those lines because the authority Celtic gave shareholders to pursue was getting too close to a truth Celtic were not prepared to share with shareholders or the support.
Three points from this. one I see already mentioned .
1 The issue was about SFA governance.
2. Peter Lawwell ,having been put between a rock and a hard place by Rangers behaviour , allowed a widely held belief that Celtic would always stand for probity when it came to facing up to SFA and Rangers to continue. How bad for him and Celtic would the optics have been if Celtic had stated what you said?
3. From the beginning in May 2013 the reason why Res12 began can be laid at the door of PL who gave impression Celtic were for pursuing the matter and sought the material that would have them to do so but in the event ignored it without giving your explanation.
Thus Res12 embarked on a false premise/belief certainly on my part having provided material to Celtic to achieve change at SFA.
Having embarked on that false premise and imo to keep the optics of Celtic wanting to pursue the case , other false premises had to be used which brings me to the UEFA one.
The UEFA response in 2016 left the door open for Celtic to take up the issue, whilst providing by chance the new club company information that has proved useful for our supporters who do not accept the same club myth but, having had a copy Celtic of UEFA reply did not pursue the matter on non compliance or raise the new club matter with SFA.
Folk forget there was non compliance that came out in 2017 when the CW trial revealed what requisitioners were saying, but focussing on the monitoring period only after SFA granted the licence. What was said about the grant period was ignored. That SFA investigation was halted by a clause in the 5WA that required CAS to investigate matters relating to the agreement, an Agreement that Celtic accepted in 2012 but never brought up when requisitioners met them to stop Res12 going further as described above.
Significantly after the 2016 UEFA reply, rulings at CAS on Malaga and Giannina FC placed focus on the grant period providing an insight to the intent of UEFA FFP. Whilst the requisitioners always thought there was something dodgy there, it was not until May 2018 when evidence turned up that when put to a lawyer with some experience of criminal law to opine, based on that evidence, that the licence had been granted by false pretence ie fraud.
That evidence was provided to SFA in June 2018 but never examined and to Celtic on at least three occasions since , leading to statements at the 2019 AGM iro a new Res12 to take case to UEFA from SFA that used UEFA’s response you mention to vote against the 2019 Res12 but totally ignored the information provided regarding the non compliance at the grant period.
That is a major concern to many shareholders who are not in any way foolish in wanting our Directors to be honest with us, we are not stupid and act from self respect when misled.
The Directors should have been in 2013 and it is time they started to be so at next if Celtic are to lay any claim to being not just a club of probity but one who will challenge it where it is lacking, not run away from the truth.
Finally to this day no one in football authority, SFA, UEFA or Celtic or those reporting on football has stated that having looked at the evidence of what took place at the grant period, the UEFA licence was granted properly as UEFA FFP require. NO ONE.
Think about it, why has that been avoided when a full answer of compliance would have ended the issue?