By David Owen
March 10 – Aston Villa, the Birmingham club marooned at the foot of the Premier League table, have reported a £27.8 million loss for the year to 31 May 2015. The deficit, which compares with a loss of just under £4 million the previous year, is the biggest among Premier League clubs yet to have reported, just ahead of Chelsea.
Turnover for 2014-15, when the club finished a lowly 17th in the league but reached the FA Cup final, losing to Arsenal, dipped by £1.2 million to £115.7 million, with a decline in commercial turnover, from £22 million to £19.4 million, largely responsible.
Operating expenses of £142.7 million, left the club with an operating loss of £27 million, up from £4.8 million.
Staff costs climbed appreciably, from £69.3 million to £83.8 million. There was in addition an exceptional cost, ascribed to “net termination and onerous contract costs”, of £3.3 million. The club replaced manager Paul Lambert with the since departed Tim Sherwood just over a year ago.
Directors’ remuneration more than tripled in the latest period to £1.59 million and aggregate emoluments of the highest-paid director surged from £265,792 to almost £1.26 million.
Net debt plunged from £102 million to £30.6 million reflecting a conversion of parent undertaking borrowings to equity.
The club is controlled – for now – by American Randy Lerner, with figures consolidated in an entity called Reform Acquisitions Limited. The strategic report made clear that Villa remains for sale, though “at the time of writing no active discussions were taking place”.
Ironically, though on-field performance this season has been even worse than in the year under review, the club’s financial performance may well prove to be better in 2015-16. The July 2015 transfer of centre-forward Christian Benteke to Liverpool for some £32.5 million should have resulted in a substantial net gain.
Thereafter, this famous old club’s prospects both on and off the field appear deeply uncertain. As it says itself in its new results statement: “The key risk facing any club in the Premier League is that of relegation.”
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