Liverpool accounts reveal increased profit, but debt doubles

Liverpool Football Club’s debts have almost doubled to £86m according to its latest financial results, despite returning to profit following losses the previous year reveals today’s Daily Post.

The article goes on to disclose:

“The club’s annual accounts will reveal a pre-tax profit of £10.2m for the year to July 31, 2008, an improvement on the previous year’s loss of £21.7m. However, the accounts will also show that net debt soared from £44m to £86m during the same period, despite an increase in revenue across the board. The results are due to be posted with Companies House by today in keeping with UK company law and though both revenue and profits show clear growth the increasing level of debt will be a concern to Liverpool’s fans.”

“Turnover has shot up from £133.9m in the previous year to £159.1m mainly as a result of the lucrative TV deal which the Premier League secured with leading broadcasters Sky and the BBC. But with matchday and commercial income both also having gone up it is clear that Liverpool’s revenue streams are on an upward curve.”

“The club’s net spending on players went up from £22m to £28m due to the recruitment of Javier Mascherano, Diego Cavalieri, Andrea Dossena, David Ngog and Robbie Keane. The net spend does not reflect the full transfer fees agreed with other clubs in transfer deals, it merely shows the initial outlay and downpayments made to secure the transfers.”

“The sales of Peter Crouch, John Arne Riise and Momo Sissoko brought in £24m and the net value of Liverpool’s squad soared from £100m in the previous year to £130m.”

Interestingly, the article also reveals "that owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett injected £58m into the club. £12m of this was used towards player acquisitions while the bulk of it was provided according to the refinancing agreement secured with the Royal Bank of Scotland in February 2007. Hicks and Gillett are due to refinance again next month but sources indicate they are likely to be given a six-month extension to their current loan arrangement."