Arsenal’s full year results confirm the club is in fine financial fettle with the club posting a group profit before tax of £24.7 million (£20 million more than this time last year) and turnover increasing to £344.5 million.
Key figures below
- Group profit before tax was GBP24.7 million (2014 – GBP4.7 million).
- The Group’s total turnover amounted to GBP344.5 million (2014 – GBP301.9 million).
- Turnover from football increased to GBP329.3 million (2014 – GBP298.7 million) with strong growth in commercial activity driven by the new kit partnership with PUMA.
- Revenues of GBP103.3 million (2014 – GBP77.2 million) from Commercial activities (including retail and licensing) exceeded £100 million for the first time.
- Matchday revenue of GBP100.4 million (2014 – GBP100.2 million) is now ranked behind both Broadcasting and Commercial as a source of revenue for the club.
- Significant investment in the squad with a record level of expenditure on player acquisitions (GBP114.0 million) which has in turn resulted in a higher amortisation and higher wage costs in the profit and loss account.
- Wage costs rose to GBP192.2 million (2014 – GBP166.4 million) and represented 58.4% (2014 – 55.7%) of football revenues.
- Profit on sale of player registrations amounted to GBP28.9 million which was significantly higher than the prior period comparative (2014 – GBP6.9 million).
- Group’s property business made a contribution to pre-tax profits of GBP13.4 million (2014 – GBP0.9 million) having benefited from a one-off profit share bonus in relation to a previously sold development site.
- The Group has no short-term debt and its cash reserves, excluding the balances designated as debt service reserves, amounted to GBP193.1 million (2014 – GBP173.3 million).
- The liabilities for player acquisitions are in part payable in installments and transfer creditors rose to GBP80.5 million (2014 – GBP38.3 million).
“The club has had a successful year both on and off the pitch,” notes chairman, Sir Chips Keswick. “We are in a robust position across all the key areas of our activities and we look forward with optimism and strong belief that we are on a positive trajectory.”
CEO Ivan Gazidis added: “Everyone at the club is determined to build on the FA Cup successes of the past two seasons.
“We continue to look to develop every aspect of our operations while remaining true to our principles around being self-funding, investing in youth, our style of play and our commitment to our fans and to our place in the community. We are focused on delivering more success.”
So, something something transfers kept your wallets tight this summer you stingy misers something something bonuses Kroenke’s advisory fees etc etc.
Yeah. We hear ya.
Something something buy a striker in January
Ah..now i get it. What Mr.Boss is trying to do is squirrel away as much money as possible so that he can buy Messi in the next transfer window. Otherwise i am bereft of ideas on why our transfer activity is so low.
Yeah, no sense in trying to grow organically and letting the people we already have improve as a group.
Yeah like when Bruce Rioch was saving up for Shearer
Only a 20m increase in profit before tax? Considering we spent a fair amount less this year that seems low to me… perhaps I’m looking at that too simply…
That’s because these are last years accounts – not this years.
Transfer fees are ‘amortised’- accounted for over the length of the contract. Eg. Calum Chambers cost 15m and signed a 5 year contract so will show up in the accounts as 3mm a year for 5 years or until he signs another contract. So this years accounts will still include parts of the transfer fees for Cazorla, Ozil Sanchez et al.
TBF they are doing a lot of work on the youth side. I think thats where the future of football lies, making your own players rather than paying £40 million for them
I do get what you are saying but if you really think about it, how much does it cost to make ONE world class player from the youth team.. You have to add in the costs of all the players who don’t make it along with the wages of all the coaches and the welfare and the medicals and all that.. Then maybe take a little off the top for being homegrown..won’t be surprised if the average cost per head on a youth player up till he makes it to world class level is 15million.. Maybe 5 million at least…… Read more »
They don’t invest money in ‘crap’ youth players so after they become professional the ones that don’t get to AFC level can often be sold which reduces the overall cost . Although some of the kids poor attitude means some leave the game entirely or move on for free, they’re all above average skills-wise for their age group.
Ajax has been making lots money by developing youth for years, I bet Southhampton have been doing well also
Perhaps, they are doing a lot of work on the youth side but who are the world class players through our ranks in the last 10 years ? The only one is Wilshere. We will not start a debate on his world class attribute or lack of it but he is the only noticeable one.
Coquelin.
Bellerin
The last World class player produced was Ashley Cole. None of the players listed, Wilshere, Coquelin, or Bellerin are World class, they need to produce consistent performances for 2-3 season before that call can be made.
Ahem…. Oh well….. Hope ‘Financial Report’ scores in the derby tomorrow…
A John fucking cunt face terry own goal would be good, where it bounces off his fucking numbskull into the goal
does he still play for them?
If he’s standing right on the touchline warming up and the ball bounces off his face without going all the way over the line and then goes into the goal…does it still count?
“Everyone at the club is determined to build on the FA Cup successes of the past two seasons”
HAHAAAHAAHAHAHAHA….
£193 million cash reserves! Go on. Blow the lot on Lionel Messi.
If we’re talking about investments perhaps investing some kind of general entropy reversal machine would be best. Imagine what we could do by being the ONLY club able to reverse the effects of aging on the human body.
I’m dreaming of the possibilities: Jeffers, Cygan, Baptista, all back in the starting eleven!
Messi would get the right hump with Giroud missing chance after chance much like i do.
Messi would love being on the end of HFB one-twos. He’d set a new PL goal record (although he certainly wouldn’t be impressed with HFBs goal return) .
The issue is, why would he come to cold, wet, high tax England when he can stay where he is in lower tax, Spanish sunshine and still not live long enough to actually count all his money .
I fekin hope cash reseves is on the bench tomorrow and im on my knees praying we start with owen gole up front!! Its our only hope!
Barca won’t sell Messi for 193m. You don’t live in the real world if you think we are the only club with huge pot of money able to spend. RM won’t sell Benzema unless they get De Gea AND there is a better option to Benzema in the market. PSG won’t sell Cavanni. They have more money than us anyways. They tried to get Cronaldo for over 100m but were told to fork out 700m euros. Same news source as the one that said we made a bid for Benzema.;) Madrid won’t sell unless they buy someone like De Gea.… Read more »
Exactly my reading of it all.
what about a backup DM? … there were some quality ones we needed on the market and we kept Arteta. But the rest of your points are spot on. Arsene knows
@santori
Arguably one of the most sensible comments ever written on Arseblog news
It was a joke Sheldon.
You don’t have to buy established players. Remember we were the club who famously didn’t buy World Class player we made them!
Arsene Wenger’s great strength was identifying the best up and coming talents like Vieira, Henry, Anelka, Van Perise, Ljungberg etc and we’re not even doing that anymore.
Instead he’s playing it safe and getting dross like Sanogo on a free or retaining the likes of Arteta and Rosicky when they’re clearly past there best
Exactly!! For someone who’s known to polish unknown talents, Wenger’s excuse was quite lame. The truth is he wasted more time than he should have on benzema and most likely didn’t have a plan B. I refuse to believe Benzema and Cavani are the only “upgrades” over Giroud. That is one lie no matter how much people band it around, i’ll never believe. Giroud is NOT a top 10 striker in the world and we’ll never win the league with him on this team no matter who plays behind him. Put a Higuain or Jackson Martinez in this team and… Read more »
Messi would cost in excess of a Billion. Worth every penny.
They need to reduce or stop the inflation added to ticket prices.
there is no justification for it. aside from the demand….. Unethical bastards
i wonder how much of the matchday revenue is from ticket sales. I imagine most of it comes from food/drink/merchandise, no? if the ticket sales aren’t bringing in as much revenue relative to the other sources (broadcasting, commercial) AND the club is in a very healthy financial position, i think a price freeze would go a long way to appeasing some supporters. or at least freeze the prices on the cheaper seats where working class and younger folks sit and raise the ticket prices in line with inflation for the expensive seats and boxes. i don’t think the club would… Read more »
Did I miss the working class option when buying my season ticket or when I buy tickets on my silver card? Cheap tickets sell to those who get on to ticket master first. Freeze prices for everyone or no-one.
Two class system in football in nonsense.
Silent Stan does not care for ethics much, it’s all about an almighty dollar for him.
Yeah that darn capitalist system. Workers of the world unite. Jeremy Corbyn understands economics.
I’m off to get drunk in meths and shout at pigeons in the park…..
Timing is everything. Poor result tomorrow and this could turn ugly. Yet another example of Arsenal’s comms team having the poise and strategy of an enraged bear.
£65M owed by the club on transfers, £35M kept for debt repayment too, so the £93M left does not even cover half this seasons wage bill, and of course there is running cots too. Of course we have certain income streams that will top up the finances as the season goes on. But anyone who thinks AFC has £193M that can be spent on transfers has no clue about finance.
The cash balance is 193m. And this excludes the 35 m which has to be kept aside. People should try to understand that the balance sheet is a snapshot as at 31st May and will already be out of date as it represents a high tide mark in terms of cash balance – season tickets payments are all in by 31st May. Hence cash as we speak will already be lower. Unless we have received further monies from sponsors, tv or football creditors for previous sales. Oh, and cash also goes to pay people too, on a monthly basis.
The money spent on transfer is spread out over the contract so there is plenty of money for transfers.The business model of the club is designed to allow a very big signing every year, maybe more said our Chief Exec. They chose not to spend.
this is a business to owners. Those of us in North America have seen all sports ruined by money over the last 20-30 years. Try following the Toronto Maple Leafs – the most valuable team in the NHL with, by far, the most expensive tickets that has made the playoffs once in the last 10 years. I love my Arsenal, but I’m not surprised how this turned out with the ‘Merican owner. I don’t think we, as fans, are asking for a sugar daddy, but the idea that we are always a player or two short (Jackson Martinez and one… Read more »
Businesses tend to go tits up as a result of poor cash management. Arsenal is a well run business with strong cash balance to make up for the relatively lumpy cash flow pattern. I’m afraid that in the absence of a sugar daddy, an owner who will provide stability and only take out what can be reasonably taken out is the best we can hope for. Kronke is a business man and will do precisely that. As will most of the owners of premier league clubs. Hence the rather quiet transfer window, aside from City spending like drunken sailors on… Read more »
of course as some have already stated there should be a ticket price freeze, but the cat c games have tickets at £26, and last season some FAC and COC games had £10 tickets, but I know some fans who deem these games not worthy of their time and effort, yet they continue to complain about ticket prices, I do feel that for some its just another stick to beat the club with.
Looking at those figures only makes me think “oh well, it’s Wenger bashing time” Now Fatgooner go on, he is all yours
Twitter’s going to be fun
Arsenal Arsenal FC
We’re by far the most financially responsible team
The world has ever seen
you’re going home in a financial instrument drawn up to securitise future season ticket revenues
You’re rich
and you know you are
Choke on your caviar rpt rpt
Less than 8% return on turnover…well played the accountants 🙂
oooh to, oooh to be, oooh to be a, hedge fund manager shorting Uzbeki energy stocks just to troll Alisher Usmanov
a story about finances without a Johann Djourou analysis is like a Chelsea line-up without a cunt (well, 11 cunts) in it.
Slightly worried about tomorrow, always get a bit nervous when we’re about to play a team just above the relegation zone who’ll be fighting for their premiership lives
Like all Kroenke Inc franchises, we are a highly successful corporation masquerading as a football club.
U don’t have to be a Hardly boy to get a raging clue…. the big cash reserves are there to secure loans required by Kroenke Inc to build a new stadium in California so he can relocate the Rams.
Thank you for your interest in our affairs.
And you have proof backing your statement?
Google it… Kroenke Sports Enterprises have presented plans for building a 80,000 seater, $1.86bn stadium…. yes, $1.86billion! located on the former Hollywood park racetrack in Inglewood. The project was unanimously approved by the city council on February 24th 2015.
The Chargers and Raiders (joint effort) have also presented plans for a stadium in Carson.
It is up to the NFL owners which bid is accepted and a decision is imminent
That is crazy money considering the Emirates cost around 400 mill. Hehe
The lack of breakdown with regards to creditors in the accounts is interesting. I would imagine that is where the bodies lie…….
The timing of this article will no doubt attract a lot of easy sniping. But yeah, in light of the current striking situation it’s a positive that looks like a negative!
@arseblog – It would be really interesting to see these numbers compared side by side to Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City & Liverpool as opposed to just comparing to Arsenals numbers from last year.
its reported that missing out on CL last season cost man utd £45M, but their revenue streams are so far ahead of all other clubs that they could absorb this loss, AFC can’t compete with utd’s finances.
Utd’s revenue last season, despite finishing below AFC and not being in CL, was still £50M more than arsenal’s best ever revenue returns.
That is because when Dein was in charge he sat there glowing like an orange rather than investing in a commercial department like he ought to to have. Manchester United have a 10 year advantage on Arsenal in terms of commercial revenue as a result. Still. He was an awfully nice man and his time in charge coincided with a successful period on the pitch so let’s all attribute the success to him rather than consider the damage this permatanned fool did by investing in his ego rather than having the foresight to back the stadium move and assist by… Read more »
The blog you’re lookin for is called the swiss ramble.
Wait for the analysis by Swiss Ramble.
However we feel about it, we tried, but we cant change what happens upstairs at our club. So just smash the chavcunts tomorrow and we are all happy!!
Safestanding areas maybe help create better atmosphere at home. Feck me, We stand at wembley for 90 mins and nobody cares!!
as things stand BPL clubs are not allowed to implement safe standing areas, until the BPL and Government change this there is nothing AFC can do about it. And as for allowing people to stand at the Emirates, from what I understand, the club is forced by the Health and Safety Officer of Islington Council to stop fans standing, and if the club do not enforce fans to stay seated the HSO has threatened to withdraw the clubs safety licence and so would in fact close the ground. Maybe the club should call the HSO’s bluff and see what happens.… Read more »
Ta
I have season ticket in the North bank. We stand every week for 90 minutes can’t see what the fuss is about.
Try it in the west lower…
Expecting lots of fun tommorrow.
To me, tomorrow is going to be a watershed. We win, and I firmly believe we will be a really serious challenger for the BPL Title. It will be a real test of where we are. CHELSEA will be like a wounded animal, knowing a loss to us tomorrow will just about destroy their season. Wounded animals are always the most dangerous. A draw would still be okay, but a win will send a message to the league. BTW, just a little confused as to why the media has been relentless after our loss to Dinamo Zagreb. ManC and ManU… Read more »
losing to dinamo zagreb is a different thing than losing to juventus, the champions league finalists….
You haven’t been following their woeful start in serie a eh?
All things are relative, a poor start in Serie A is not quite as bad as not winning a champions league game for 16 years, in my opinion.
Tomorrow (and the lead up to it) is the reason why we are addicted to the Arsenal!
COYG!
I´m already salivating in anticipation of how our three man attack line of
Indosat – OG – Profit
will destroy the bus at the bridge tomorrow. Plus, I can´t see any way Hazard et al. will get past Cash Reserve in midfield.
COYG, bring down the Bridge!
I reckon they should tell us their outgoings and investments over a calendar year, let us know the net profit. Hopefully that would relieve some of this tension around our finances!
That’s not including what Mr Wenger has hidden under the bed