Arsenal have announced their full year financial results, coincidentally just before kick-off of tonight’s Europa League game against BATE Borisov.
The key points are:
- Turnover from football increased to £422.8 million (2016 – £350.6 million) with strong growth in broadcasting supported by commercial activity. First time Club’s football revenues have exceeded £400 million.
- Overall Commercial revenue growth for the year of 10% led by an additional £5.9 million from secondary partnerships.
- A third successive year of increased cash investment in the squad is reflected in higher amortisation charges and higher wage costs.
- Wage costs rose to £199.4 million (2016 – £195.4 million) and represented 47.2% (2016 – 55.7%) of football revenues. Year on year comparison is distorted by there being no players’ Champions League qualification bonus in the 2016/17 figures.
- Amortisation charge on player registrations rose to £77.1 million (2016 – £59.2 million).
- Limited transfers out activity – the profit on sale of player registrations amounted to £6.8 million (2016 – £2.0 million).
- Quiet year for the Group’s property business with a contribution to pre-tax profits of £0.2 million (2016 – £2.0 million).
- Group profit before tax was £44.6 million (2016 – £2.9 million).
- Tax charge for the year of £9.3 million (2016 – £1.2 million) reflecting a balance of higher taxable profits and lower rates of UK corporation tax.
- The Group has no short-term debt and its cash balances, excluding the accounts designated as debt service reserves, amounted to £144.3 million (2016 – £191.1 million). The reduction follows a Club record net cash outflow on player transfers of £102.5 million (2016 – £54.2 million).
- The liabilities for player acquisitions are, in part, payable in instalments and the outstanding net amount due to vendor clubs was £42.7 million (2016 – £42.5 million)
Chairman Sir Chips Keswick said, “The club’s 13th FA Cup win was some compensation for the disappointment of dropping out of the Premier League’s top four for the first time in 20 years. This summer we have again moved to strengthen the squad and we are optimistic about the season ahead.”
Good thing we have some money, I guess, because we’re going to need it this summer to replace a raft of players.
One thing having money, a completely different thing to make use of it. We need to move away from replenishing the squad to making additions to it. We’ve been led to believe one equates to the other, sad reality. Proper additions will have a positive effect on not just the on-the-pitch results but the off the field confidence (which bleeds to the performances). But what do I know, just a bloke in love with The Arsenal. Such is life.
There is always the ol’ “internal solutions”
…prep yourself for the inevitable.
#silentstanthedestroyer
Yeah that reiss Nelson looks like neymar. That Maitland Niles is the next kante.
They’ll be amazing internal solutions
Right. I smell an optimist.
Should have used more of it before, when it was worth more. Easy to say in hindsight, I guess, although a lot of us wanted money spent at the time.
Kolasniac looks like a real player.
Lacazette just a poor man’s Lukaku/Morata.
Will do a decent enough job, but nothing special and not much of an improvement.
Not too fussed on Ozil leaving.
But we need huge investment all over the park.
By the time we replace Alexis… we’ll be told there’s no money left.
Our central defensive options are shocking, midfield back up not much better.
And with Welbeck injured, Walcott is closer to the starting 11 than I’d like him to be.
Happy days ?
You haven’t seen alot of our strikers recently if you don’t think Lacazette is an upgrade. Just watch his first goal versus West Brom.
Giroud scored quite a few belters last season.
He also hit the bar with an outrageous effort last week against Doncaster.
Think Lacazette looks decent, just a bit physically lightweight and stamina seems a concern.
You should be banned from arseblog.
Probably just sees it as a tap in. Does not realise it’s all about instinctively getting yourself in position to score goals like that which is what great strikers do.
Ozil, whilst great going forward, accentuates the weaknesses of Wenger’s set up. To a lesser extent on the going forward side, the same could be said of Walcott.
In reality, getting the team to defend as a unit, is our biggest challenge. That comes with training and not with spending.
When Lacazette wins the Golden Boot at the end of the season you will wonder why you made that silly comment.
I’d love him to shove my words back down my throat.
I think he looks decent enough and will certainly bag a few.
A level down and much easier to handle than both Morata/Lukaku though.
Who are both younger and have much higher ceilings.
He’s just a typical AW signing over the last 12-13 years, a 5ft7 technically sound lightweight.
For a start he’s 5 foot 9 which is the height as a certain Mr Wright who I would say played in a more physical era. I wouldn’t call him a light weight he’s movement and pace is going to be a disruptive force for most defences and he’s first touch is twice that of both the players mentioned. Also he has the the unsettled midfielders and still get back into the box as show by the amount of moves at started by him tackling back. Think your being negative for negative sake seen him in person 5 times now… Read more »
Honestly, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Go back to playing football manager!
You sound like one of those that will never be happy. You must be one of those “winners” in real life.
“Lacazette just a poor man’s Lukaku/Morata.”
Love it when people watch match of the day, and then claim that whoever scored a goal or two is the solution to all our problems.
What is the use of making profit of we don’t invest enough and properly?
Dont you know how it feels to have loads of money in the bank? I guess only robbie knows
It’s not real profit, as such. Transfer fees (and associated costs) are “amortised” in the accounts over the players’ contract lengths. The actual committed spend last Summer was £110m, but the accounts only show £77m amortised.
Presumably, if we were to have gotten Lemar or Mbappe, the funds would have been available through the money we already have (although it was clear the club weren’t prepared to spend it). It would have taken a serious chunk out of that money, but we would have still had 40-60m left. So is the club determined to keep a minimum reserve of approx. £150m? Or would have signing those players, without moving on at least one of Özil or Sanches, have put the club into a deficit, something we aren’t (thankfully) prepared to do? I take the point that… Read more »
Current cash (and cash equivalents) balance = £180m
£35m reserved as part of stadium financing deal
£43m needed to pay installments on previous transfers over the following year (mostly over the following few months).
That leaves £102m
However, the club receive £100m from lump sum sponsorship payments and season ticket advances just before the accounts close on 31 May. So the cash balance at the beginning of May would have been close to zero.
So, we’re fucking loaded…
Not the first time i’ve read it.
I do think with the next summer on the horizon the money will be needed indeed and that the club, with the dust settling, need every bit of it to replace the “top top top quality” that are going out the door.
Why didn’t we just add this summer?
Try to convince players we want to keep that we mean business?
Because we couldn’t afford to, because we were keeping them.
Because of how the balance sheets supposedly work.
These figures must be wrong. There’s no money left for major signings under 90 million quid?
i think the point was more; no more room for signings in this window with the window’s budget and insane prices being battered about. but if they think this window is an exception and next summer will be different they are deluded. PL clubs are getting £100m a season now minimum, clubs will want a slice of that pie, and who can blame them. PSG can offset their spending this summer by selling 3 £30million players for £70 million each in the next. Other European clubs will do similar, I hope they don’t but smaller European clubs look to become… Read more »
I saw a video saying that PSG didn’t technically pay anything to Barca, because the buy-out clauses in players’ contracts in Spain can only be bought out by the players themselves. It suggested that an intermediary would pay Neymar the money, who would pay Barcelona in turn.
Surely if that is the case it would be very easy to show that the deal is not a fair transfer in terms of FFP, regardless of who actually paid the money?
There is more money but lets not forget as well the prices for players has risen astronomically this summer.
If we are going to splash the money, I’d get Draxler, forget Mbappe.
AND we may need to add in midfield still. We look thin in terms of back ups to Ramsey Granit.
At Arsenal, there is no such thing as “enough” cash. Keep em coming…
But I thought we were poor…
Kroenke will probably use the money to improve his crappy MLS team the rapids! and tell us there’s no money to buy players with!
He can’t take money out of the club without it becoming clear in the company accounts. So far he’s taken a questionable £3m ‘Services Supplied’ annual charge and that wouldn’t make a dent in any of his other ventures numbers.
If he does take proper money out then we’ll all be able to shout about it, but there’s nothing yet to suggest it’ll happen.
He doesn’t have to take the money out. As long as it’s here he can use it as collateral, which is obviously what he is doing.
The idea that Stan is going to spend money on his other sports teams is preposterous. Arsenal receive much better treatment from him than his American franchises do.
Well run club. The most entertaining club in the league. Time to go on a long win streak to get the fans back onside sharpish! COYG!