Despite entry into the group stages of the Europa League, Celtic’s income to the six months to 31 December 2011 increased by only £0.88m to £29.27m on the corresponding period the previous year, reflecting a fall in income from pre-season tours and a drop in merchandise sales of £454k.
Despite playing one more home game than during the last six months of 2010, income from football and stadium operations dropped £224k.
Operating expenses increased by £867k to £28.388m, reflecting inflationary pressures and the cost of Europa League participation while net bank debt dropped in the year by £2.0m to £7.05m. The club made a profit before tax of £177k.
Considering this was a period of difficult economic times and came on the heels of a loss of the league title and poor results on the field until the last seven weeks of the year, these are solid financial results. The club continues to live within its means while chipping away at legacy debt. Failure to gain entry into the group stage of the Europa League would have put further downward pressure on income but, conversely, future participation in the Champions League would transform finances.
It is important that the club regains the SPL title which would give it an excellent chance of reaching the Champions League group stage, making it a more attractive pre-season tournament proposition while boosting merchandise sales.
Around this time of the year we normally benchmark Celtic’s financial results with those from Rangers. The Ibrox club failed to submit their accounts for the 12 months to 30 June 2011 by the required date, prompting the Plus Exchange to suspend trading in their shares, so there appears to be little chance Rangers will submit even their usual eight line interims.
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And a message to my darling sister the dwarf.
Stop reading CQN and get on with that book!
The results are very healthy as far as I can see. Shows we’re living within our means.
Undoubtedly if the league is lost this year the team would have to be broken up and a new project started (playing wise at least). That worries me.
We should have enough in our tank to ensure victory this season.
It’s pleasing the debt continues to fall despite having what most would agree is a cracking footballing machine on the field.
On Lennon’s 100 games, I have an article up on Celtic Underground with a wee look back at what has happened to bring the team to where it is.
http://celticunderground.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=860:lennon-100-not-out-ride-on&catid=47:season-2011-2012&Itemid=83
Paul67
Prefer your headline to the laptop Loyal’s, Big Profit Loss.
They really are hurting, noticed the stories that Celtic NEED rangers are in full throttle now. Maybe they know something we dont…
HH
Lennon n Mc….Mjallby says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:05
Away kits pull on lots of cash if they are decent. I don’t think we have had a decent one in years. I haven’t bought one in a long time.
The culture of the last few years haven’t helped. Do parents want their kid roaming about with Celtic gear on when there are people out there who are willing to send packages in the post to people who support Celtic and who manage the club?
It would be interesting to drill down into the figures and see where the numbers are down. It’s tough economic times so that will have an impact. Success will put those figures back up and I would suspect a league win and a cup win possibly even a treble and the merchandise that goes with it will balance the numbers back out.
If we had a number 7 would that make a difference? Who do kids get on the back of their shirts? Having a Henke, Bellamy or a Naka would help. Still not making a loss and the trophies have still to be won so the merchandise figures have still got 6 months to even out.
LB
SwanseaBhoy says:
13 February, 2012 at 09:59
I’m with you as that is what I want. Anything else would not be just and would certainly send the wrong message to other clubs in financial difficulties. On the other hand I might accept less.
greenjedi says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:06
Thanks GJ – I didn’t think he had flagged.
The question has to be asked why did he not flag if the linesman did indeed think it a foul? This has the makings of another “Dougie, Dougie” I think.
Gordon_J
That idea of stable progression through the leagues is far too sensible and fair-minded for “the people” – they’re too dignified for that!
The argument that Celtic and the SPL in general would downsize without Rangers holds some water, however with finances tight clubs would have to focus on their youth set-ups. Throw more kids in at the deep end earlier in their careers allowing them to gain more experience and commanding higher transfer fees when the English teams come calling.
Yes we will downsize, but it’s not the end of the world.
If, or should I say when, we win the league this year, will we have one or two qualifying rounds for participation in the Champions League?
I don’t think our coeff is that great at the moment, so I would reckon that it would be pretty difficult to get to the group stage.
ASonOfDan says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:22
It will be spun as “Old Firm struggling” no doubt :-)
sixtaeseven says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:25
It’s two but I think it’s more than achievable if we’re playing to the best of our abilities. Whether we will or not is another story. This seasons Europa campaign helps massively you’d think.
RogueLeader,
There would be a tv audience for Newco away games as there is for huns away games now. Only a few would get to the matches because of the small grounds and many would want to watch. I’m sure that could be sold to Sky – they really wouldn’t care if they were showing Dunfermline v Rangers or Stranraer v Newco as long as the viewing figured were decent.
Lennon n Mc….Mjallby at 10:05
You might have a point but I’d say its equally likely that a drop is due to the fact that the current home strip was out from August 2010 and so the majority of those will have been bought last season meaning away shirts will be the major seller for this past 6 months and I don’t think away tops sell as many as home tops.
Mort
Noohoosforanewawatstrip
Read on here about reclaiming the orange. Never been a better time IMHO.
greenjedi says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:02
You’re right. Wonder who edits the highlights. BBC did say those were the only shots theyhad.
nike dont seem to get the style of celtic tops right,the home strip,the 2 away strips are a bad example of nikes designs.surely there must be someone at celtic who can show the style of tops etc that they want nike to make,watching wolfsberg on friday night there football strip was a well designed strip of green and white made by adidas, the other team had a top of red and black made by nike terrible.
Two things:
1) Buy the hard copy of CQN Magazine. You’ll be pleased you did.
2) Disappointing results as the year end will now inevitably show a loss, diminishing the resources available to the club, and increasing the requirement to sell players to make up the trading shortfall. Given that we sold no players in January, the loss for the year before any exceptional items will be in excess of £4M, largely non-cash costs on amortisation of players.
That said, the results are not unexpected, and doubtless the Leaders at the club have a cunning plan.
I would respectfully suggest though that the results would have been considerably better had we, the supporters, backed the team more enthusiastically in the Europa League. Full houses at the three home ties would have added an additional +£2M to income.
As matters play out towards their inexorable conclusion at Ayebroke, a debate is being engaged on the viablility of Scottish Football without a Rangers team playing in the SPL. The viability of Celtic in this light will increasingly be determined by how much income is generated by the supporters. Given the challenges in qualifying for the Champions League, Europa League football is likely to be our staple.
If we don’t back the team in Europe, and don’t recover the missing 8000 or so season ticket holders from the last decade, it is self evident that the resources available to the manager will diminish in turn, unless Ian Bankier has a transfomative effect on our business model. I’m not seeing much evidence of that to date, early though it is.
TBB
Paddy Gallagher at 10:30
An orange kit would be a cracker. They could do worse than to look at some Ivory Coast tops for inspiration.
Mort
really like Ian Bankiers line within the ‘Chairman’s Statement’ when talking about the strength of our squad –
“This has been a conscious decision that the financial discipline of the past has allowed us to take. As a result, we have been able to enjoy the virtuous trilogy of being able to keep our best players, build and develop significant value in our player pool, and see improvements in football performance”
That’s all!
Jobo
67
If we win the league we will be in the Champoins side of the draw and should miss most of the big boys. Indeed in our side if the draw (if we win the league) we will be one of the big boys!
test
Anybody mind if I say well done to the board, I have to ask as most of you lot spend more on Celtic than I do.
Really like Ian Bankier’s line within the Chairman’s Statement. Referring to the strength of our squad, he says –
“This has been a conscious decision that the financial discipline of the past has allowed us to take”
That’s all.
Jobo
Mort says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:33
Paddy Gallagher at 10:30
Agreed mate, timing is everything.
I remember their Orange strip to celebrate the ‘contribution’
of the dutch players to the Rangers cause.
lucky number 7, agree.
Gordon_J, yes, seems appropriate to kick into an open goal.
RogueLeader, “if Whyte does his thing correctly”. Aye, but his form so far has been mixed on that front.
ASonOfDan, they sure are.
Fair play to Richie Foran of Inverness Caley for the ref to recind the red card he showed to big dan on saturday,well done i say,
A genuine question here: in the SFA’s much trumpeted new approach to ‘openness’, do the Referee Observer’s reports ever get published? I’d love to see what was said about Saturday’s debacle – at the very least it should contain the phrase “It would appear that La Manga was a waste of time and money!”
£30 parent and child package available for rearranged Dunfermline game on 22nd.
After the Motherwell home game on 25th, we don’t have another home game scheduled until 31st March, which is the final pre-split home game. A full month without a game at CP. (Cup replay is a possibility).
So, for non SB holders, very limited chance to see the Bhoys in March, get out there for the double header on 22nd/25th Feb, and bring the weans.
The Battered Bunnet at 10:33
Qualification for the Champions League through the “Champions route” is much less formidable than previous qualifications. Should we win the league and get entry to CL, a 3rd place position would be ideal to take us into the Europa League where co-efficient points are easier to come by and matches in the latter stages should be a bit easier.
But ultimately you are correct in that we need to get to the games to support the team. We were unfortunate this season with the kick off times as they were already agreed for Sion and we had to make do with early games which had an impact on the attendance, but if it were Man U or Barcelona coming for a 6:00 kick-off, the ground would have been full so its not all about kick off times.
Mort
a href=”http://www.dwsports.com/replica-kits/football-kits/international-teams/ivory-coast/ivory-coast-jersey.html”>http://www.dwsports.com/replica-kits/football-kits/international-teams/ivory-coast/ivory-coast-jersey.html
For Mort and timbhoy2
Paddy Gallagher at 10:37
I remember their Orange strip to celebrate the ‘contribution’ of the dutch players to the Rangers cause.
I think your memory is playing tricks with you. I’m pretty sure it was a tangerine kit.
Mort
Newco.
The problem with the Newco issue is that when shove comes to push, the Celtic Board will claim, correctly, that it their duty to vote in the best interests of the plc’s shareholders. And that is where the problems begin.
The majority of Celtic shareholders have different agenda from the holders of the majority of shares in Celtic.
And I can assure you that hell will freeze over before DD and PL allow a head count as opposed to a share counjnt at any meeting held to discuss voting on a Newco.
Regardless of the outcome of HMRC or anything else, this time next THEY, in one form or another will be alive and well in the SPL.
At the risk of being accused of being totally cynical. To save them any possible embarrassment, DD and PL are probably hoping that HMRC lose the case.
EmeraldBee\o/ says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:40
A genuine question here: in the SFA’s much trumpeted new approach to ‘openness’, do the Referee Observer’s reports ever get published? I’d love to see what was said about Saturday’s debacle – at the very least it should contain the phrase “It would appear that La Manga was a waste of time and money!”
………….
The 1st booking for the Inverness player who got sent off was an utter joke, it was a great tackle, not even a foul.
Yep…….Cash flow is king!
Paul 67 ….thank you for clarification re: characters (======) on my Everton Liverpool debate posting.
Now I know….”indeed”.
HH
DBB
Paddy
Or even a variation on this
Reclaim the orange.
Mort
Modren non-cash costs on amortisation of players is rubbish.
EmeraldBee\o/ says:
13 February, 2012 at 10:40
It would be interesting to see all the reports on a weekly basis and would certainly bring a bit of well needed transparency, however I think the report for the game on Saturday would read:
“Wee Stevie followed the La Manga orders perfectly – 10/10”
Justbecauseyou’reparanoid…CSC
Tombola
Celtic FC announces big profits fall for second half of 2011.
bbc report on interim results with slightly different slant.
Did we do something to annoy them?Hope so.
One thing that might be true of our accounts is that the squad size and wage bill are either a large part of the budget or something which is hindering making a bigger profit.
It seems clear that some players will have to go to decrease this.
Now that is regular practice.
Celtic have a few players out of contract in the summer – Majstorovic, Loovens, Cha, Mark Wilson and possibly Cervi as well. I think Zaluszka has either signed or been offered a new deal. They will most likely leave the club for nothing freeing up wages and personally ‘ll be very glad to see Glenn Loovens off the wage bill – an unmitigated failure and and occasional disaster. I’ll be sad for Mark Wilson but he has rarely had the levels of fitness required for a consistent run in the team (last season accepted). With another 2 International RB’s neither Cha nor Mark Wilson at their age will be required.
Other than youngsters we have Murphy, Odea, McGinn and J.Thompson all out on loan and we have Rasmussen and Juarez who are back but not in the plans. You could even throw Paddy McCourt into this group but I’d be sad to do so. I think the end is nigh for all of these guys.
It is plain to seem that there is a surplus here and it needs to be trimmed. I don’t know how much money this would actually save but it is currently being wasted. These players must find new clubs in the Summer but it ain’t easy.
Murphy – deal is up in 2013
Odea – wants to go to Leeds permanently
McGinn – Out of contract in June
J.Thompson – possibly out of contract as well
Juarez – on a four year deal – Nightmare
Rasmussen – 3 and a half year deal – two more to run.
If Celtic can get money for any of the above and lose the wages it will be a start.
I would expect one of the bigger players to be sold in the summer as well but all things are possible.
I wonder if any progress has been made on the idea of a Worldwide Membership scheme, along the lines being promoted by Auldheid and co. I know there was some issue with resources but it seems to me that money in would be a lot bigger than money out if it were done properly.
Just as a reminder: My own view of it is of some kind of yearly card carrying scheme whereby people, particularly those overseas, get access to club TV via Internet, perhaps some preferential access to tickets (SB holders would automatically be members and get whatever benefits were going), get some form of voting right for a committee of rank and file members (theres me getting all Trade Union – and I am kind of envisaging a supporters version of that to be honest, – don’t tell DD or PL though!) who will take supporters ideas and communicate them through an officially recognised point of contact on a regular basis.
The benefit to the club is another revenue stream, some of which must be used directly in purchase of players or perhaps improved contracts for players we want to hang on to. It will also help them to avoid misunderstandings with supporters and improve communications. It will also increase the profile of CH67 – hopefully to the point where it will be a must have for anyone who is Celtic minded. It gives the club a more organised reach out to overseas supporters and those who are not necessarily still ‘active’ match attenders but still ‘support’ Celtic and would like to contribute more directly that just through a Satellite TV subscription. It also prepares us for the day when we will all be watching our football through the Internet when we’re not able to get to the game – and hopefully the club will have control over how that happens. This is a head start.
For the support – it ‘formalises’ what we already know – that we are Celtic Supporters, that we are the club. It may sound silly but I think having a card carrying membership scheme, knowing that the money is going directly in to the product on the park, will appeal. As I say it means that people living away who may not be able to justify a Season Book could probably justify the contribution to the membership scheme and would want to do so. Like being a Barcelona member for the Catalan people it may well become a badge of honour, nothing that anyone who gathers in a pub in London, Belfast, New York, Dubai, Sydney or Timbuktu to watch the Hoops would want to be without – BUT only if it is done properly, only if it is meaningful, only if it is more than a chance to get people’s e-mail addresses to send merchandising info to. It needs to be REAL, it needs to be self financing and run semi independently of the club.
Must have some time on my hands this morning!