[BFC SITE] Club accounts for 23/24 submitted

Barnsley FC accounts for 2023/24 have been submitted this week, with the following headlines featuring in the Executive Summary.


The financial statements cover the 13-month period from 1 June 2023 to 30 June 2024. The extended period ensures that the financial year end is now co-terminus with the standard player’s contract.

Turnover fell by £0.5m from the previous season. Contributing factors include not progressing to the play-off final, as in the previous season, and moving to an outsourced merchandise retail model.

Sponsorship and advertising have increased by 42% from £555k to £788k.

Catering and events have increased by 26% from £636k to £801k.

Average league match attendances increased by 1,117 (10%) to 12,681 (11,564 in 2022/2023).

£7.7m of profit was generated from the sale of players during the season. The cash received from these transfers will be received over multiple instalments and seasons.

An operating loss of £9.6m was incurred for the 13-month period, mitigated by player trading to give a net loss for the financial period of £2.8m.

During the financial period, £4.2m of cash was injected into the Club by the shareholders as equity not as a loan or debt.

CEO Jon Flatman said, "Despite making a £7.7m profit on player sales during this period, ownership injected £4.2m cash into the Club, which is not a sustainable model. A loss of £2.8m is not uncommon across the EFL and demonstrates the need for the Football Governance Bill to be resolved as soon as possible. Losses for 2024/25 are projected as being in excess of £6m and there have been, to date, cash injections of over £5m from ownership. Commercial revenues have continued to grow in the 2024/25 season and we expect that these will also see those numbers continue to increase. We are working on ensuring the business is more efficient and generates additional revenues with the ultimate aim of improving on-pitch performance. Thank you to all supporters and Club partners for their continued support."

Continue reading...

 

"Continue reading ...." to what ?

 

You might have been ahead of the link being posted, as it works now.

 

I think he means, the entire article is available, clicking on the link to continue reading doesn't give you anything else to read....

 

They really need to elaborate on this outsourced deal and why the merchandising revenues have fallen off a cliff.

Are there sizeable upfront costs in year 1 of the contract so we've suffered a one off hit? Are the margins largely passed over to fanatics so our share is much diminished? Has sales volume dwindled significantly? And what are the countermeasures?

They've done well increasing the amount of sponsorships, but it's been neutered from the drop in merchandise sales so we've gained no benefit.

 

Who would have thought outsourcing would be a mess...

 

Regarding outsourcing, remember revenue is not profit. If the club bears no costs and only takes profit the two revenue figures are not directly comparable.

 

Could it not just be that the actual profit is similar, but the club no longer takes as much money for the merchandise?

Eg. if turnover in season 1 is 800k, but out of that we have to spend 500k to purchase the merchandise, that’s 300k profit, but if in season 2 we only receive the 300k because the rest is handled externally the profit is the same but turnover is vastly reduced.

 

Potentially, but that then creates a £500k gap in the cost of sales comparatives in the accounts. These have increased significantly, and the change to a revenue model should in theory provide a £500k improvement before anything else is reflected (using your example figures).

 

Cost of sales are £14.5m (£12.5m last year) are they not? Easy for 500k to not obviously show up when you’re talking about numbers like that isn’t it?

 

But the point is that a £2m increase, is actually then a £2.5m increase (using the example figures) so there's another section of the accounts where there's an 'upside' to offset the picture painted by the revenue shortfall, it's just not clearly visible as 'merchandise'.

This assumes we're looking at a comparative that now shows profit as revenue in the current year. It's not 100% certain how the two figures compare.

 

No way of knowing re the £800k as that will be a pure turnover figure when it was self-operated.

 

Whilst I stand by my description of the accounts from the other thread (frightening), it's still worth pointing out that were we sat 2nd or 1st in the table, looking likely to be promoted, they'd be easier to swallow. Even if we were 3rd or 4th like Neerav's computer says, they'd not be garnering as much grief.

As it is, we are 11th. And eight points adrift of 6th, having played a game more than those we need to catch. Which, by the way, makes the seven points missed out on in three easier-looking fixtures all the more galling.

I didn't even know we had a game tomorrow. Against the fan-owned club who aren't posting huge losses. Not saying it's doable here, before anyone starts. But fair play to them. They're going to be enjoying another season at this level when fighting against clubs with £12,000,000 wage bills.