BFC Accounts have landed

Now available from Companies House. Just about to read them.

Headline figures from summary - £9.7m operating loss, offset by £6.8m of profit from player sales leaving a net loss of £2.8m.

£4.2m in cash injections from the shareholders.

I'll review more fully later, unless Archerfield gets there before me!

 

for the period 01 June 2023 to 31 June 2024.

 

Yes, same period as all other clubs will be reporting on around this time. (30 June 2024, not 31st though!)

 

Thanks - just wanted to add the detail for us financial luddites

Essentially, it covers the transfers out of...

• Mads Andersen
• Brad Collins
• Liam Kitching

**and note to self to remember that June only has 30 days

 

Even Sheff Wednesday? I thought they were just about to release the accounts for the 1931-32 season.

 

So, based on a quick initial readthrough, here's the headline summary:

- They're reporting a 13 month period, as the year-end has moved to 30 June, so these are for 1 June 2023 to 30 June 2024. Comparative figures are a 12 month period to 31 May 2023.
- New auditors used (Xeinadin Audit Ltd). No longer the long-standing use of Gibson Booth (not necessarily an issue, but a bit of a surprise to see this).
- Turnover of £8.97m, down from £9.5m. Football league distributions, Match day, TV and broadcasting all down vs prior year (pre-dates new Sky deal for this season). Merchandise took a huge hit (£253k vs £805k last year) presumably due to the Fanatics deal. Sponsorship, catering and other receipts all up vs prior year.
- Operating loss £9.7m vs £5.8m last year.
- Player trading profit of £6.8m vs £1.8m last year.
- Impact of improved player trading means the full year loss of £2.8m is lower than prior year's £4.0m loss, but will no doubt be an one-off impact that won't be repeated in the current year's accounts when they're released next year.
- Carrying value of the squad (intangible assets) is up slightly from £1.0m to £1.3m - bit of a surprise to see that.
- Player trading debtors are much higher, at £4.5m vs £2.0m (transfer money still to be received) and player trading creditors (money owed for players) is also higher (£1.0m vs £0.5m), so there has been an increased level of re-investment in players to go with the outgoing transfer business.
- Wages up from £9.3m to £11.3m. Director remuneration broadly similar, but big reduction in highest paid director salary (which is probably a part-year issue with the change from Khaled to Jon Flatman as CEO during the year).
- The new lease on the stadium is clearly visible in the future commitments schedule. No obvious huge change in annual cost (one year and 1-5 year figures are broadly the same, but over 5 year figure is much higher).
- Cashflow statement is an eye opener. Cash loss from operating activities is £9.2m vs £6.0m last year (this is the physical cash impact, broadly similar to the reported losses, but not the same thing). Shareholder funds received of £4.2m vs £6.0m last year.
- Some quick info on transfer activity, as cash paid and profit figures aren't the same thing. We added £1.3m in new player value (total transfer fees agreed) and made outgoing cash payments of £780k in the year. We received £5.3m in transfer fees (cash amount) but reported a profit on sales of £7.7m. We amortised (the contract value deterioration charged as a 'cost of use' in the year £900k compared to £1.3m last year).

I think that probably covers most of the obvious bits, based on a quick read through. There is reference in the narrative to the new SCMP rules taking effect for 2025/26 "in an attempt to stem growing financial losses in Leagues One and Two." For those looking to criticise BFC purely for making a loss, it's essentially a fact of life within football currently, and this statement is as good as any in reminding everyone that football finance in general is FUBAR.

 

Post of the day!

 

It's a shame they've binned local accountants (Gibson Booth) who have audited the accounts going back a long time.

 

Next years will be a reyt laugh with no large transfer fees to offset losses.

 

Doesn't necessarily imply any issues with them though. For example, it may be that it links in better with the arrangements for the audit of the Hong Kong investment company, given the name of the new auditors. They're separate entities, in different jurisdictions, but obviously related via one of them owning a majority stake in the other.

 

Oh absolutely, I'd expect they already do stuff for him, hence the consolidation. Just a pity a local business of a club that likes to flash its community credentials is moving business away from a firm based in Barnsley.

 

They appear to be related in some way. Xeinadin have a page on their website for their "Barnsley Office" which has an address next door to and consists of the same people who are listed as directors for Gibson Booth.

https://xeinadin.com/office/barnsley/

 

Well they make grim reading, but the most grim part is what's to come in 2024/5 given the huge drop in transfer income, but we know Parekh is boosting equity to cover these massive losses.

I wasn't expecting the operating loss to be so large. I wasn't expecting merchandise sales to be so badly affected by the fanatics deal.

The big question is what is going to happen in the period to June 2026.

And just a footnote, an operating loss larger than our actual turnover... Mindbending.

 

Frightening stuff.

And as @Juddy G alluded to, they’ll be even uglier in 12 months.

Be nice to know what the club’s strategy is moving forward, how it intends to fix things, beyond the obvious tactic of selling every player with suitors.

 

Looks like an aggregator. Maybe a much smaller entity than Tenon.

Thats something at least... Seems to be the same local team doing it, just a shift in hq address.

Nice sleuthing Colombo ;-)

 

I would imagine it's similar to what Sheriff said in that they're also auditing the hong kong accounts via another accountancy firm based there and it makes sense to have them both officially audited under the same company.

 

Seems actually like Xeinadin might have bought out Gibson Booth, judging by linkedin pages etc.

 

It would appear that Xeinadin bought out Gibson Booth.

https://www.insidermedia.com/news/national/xeinadin-acquires-two-northern-accountancy-firms

Edit. You beat me to it

 

Yep - Xeinadin listed as owner of Gibson Booth on Companies House https://find-and-update.company-inf...any/07891643/persons-with-significant-control

 

Makes more sense now. They're office shows as being a London address on the stat accounts, which didn't make it obvious from the high-speed review I did, but that suggests that there's been continuity in the audit after all.