By Mark Baber
March 3 – Liverpool’s annual accounts for the year ended 31 May 2014 show the club made a pre-tax profit of £900,000 – the first time the club has been in the black for seven years and the reward for a positive style of play, coming second in the Premier League, and the fruits of the Premier League broadcasting deal.
Liverpool’s revenue increased to £255.6 million, 19% up on 2014-14, with media revenue up 46% to £100.9 million. Commercial revenue saw a rise of 5%.
Liverpool Boston-based owners Fenway Sports Group will be delighted to see the previous year’s loss of £49.8 million turned around, and particularly pleased that the company’s key strategy, highlighted in the report, of “improving football performance through a positive playing style and strategic player investment” has paid off so handsomely in a year in which Liverpool were not participating in the Champions League.
The chief executive, Ian Ayre, said: “With a hugely supportive ownership we have brought financial stability back to this football club and we now have the right structure, platform and ambition to continue growing on and off the pitch.”
“We continue to make good financial progress. Although these results are nearly 12 months old, they demonstrate that the transitional period we’ve been through over the past four years has stabilised the club and provided a platform for growth.
These latest accounts do not take account of the reported £70 million received for Luis Suarez, although the report notes that the cumulative profit and loss on player sales since the period end is a £52 million profit.
Matchday revenues saw a 5% rise in 2013/14 largely due to successful tours of Asia and Australia, and plans to redevelop Anfield to increase capacity should improve these figures further.
Work on the Main Stand, which could be completed by the 2016/17 season, will provide around 8,500 extra seats, bringing the total capacity up to 54,000. Plans have also been submitted to provide an additional 4,800 seats in the Anfield Road End.
For Liverpool supporters around the world the turnaround in the club’s fortunes could hardly be more welcome, particularly with the club explicitly committed to “leveraging the club’s global following to deliver revenue growth.”
It is recognised in the report that increases in commercial revenue are dependent on performance on the pitch, further proof that owner John W Henry and current chairman Tom Werner, who saved the club from administration in 2010, have brought a winning mentality to Liverpool, from performances on the pitch to the overall running of the club.
According to Deloitte, the latest results put Liverpool back into the top 10 clubs globally ranked by revenue.
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