The only thing that is certain today – on this 30th June ‘deadline’ is that this month end represents PSR day for West Ham United. Regardless of relegation to the Championship, the Hammers need to present their figures and show that they’ve remained within the £105 million loss maximum allowance over the last three years – or risk sanctions.
Conjecture is widespread that today will also see clarity in West Ham’s boardroom over cash injections and rights issues over shareholdings that will, following the Kretinsky and Gold statement of three weeks ago, show how the ownership and financial situation of the shareholders has evolved in that time.
As Claret and Hugh associate editor Sean Whetstone wrote today:
“Daniel Kretinsky is expected to conclude his dealings with the Gold Family Trust today buying and additional 16% of West Ham [shares] to take his holding to 43%”.
The ‘Czech Sphinx’ carries out his business away from the media spotlight
“Kretinsky is also expected to inject cash in the form of a rights issue and could be the sole shareholder to do so. An injection of £90 million could increase his 43% shareholding to around 53% and make him the majority shareholder enabling him [sic] the votes to fully control West Ham.
David Sullivan is not expected to exercise his rights in the rights issue, and it looks increasingly likely that no one else will, meaning all other shareholders will have their shareholdings diluted’.
Not, perhaps, as exciting or news worthy as transfer news with big ticket player disposals now occupying acres of news print and swathes of blog posts.
But potentially a big, pivotal moment in West Ham’s new era, for what might be the first outward signs of the whirring of the physical wheels of change following on from Kretinsky’s announcements three weeks ago.
We’ll just have to watch and wait. ‘The Czech Sphynx‘ has his nickname for a reason and his dealings have, so far, been carried out away from the glare of leaks and publicity characterised by the former regime at London Stadium.
But when the reality does emerge – either via companies house in due course or possibly from West Ham’s own web site – the mechanism to complete the ‘silent revolution’ might just have been grinding into action whilst attention has been focussed elsewhere.
Not sure it works like that, West Ham’s accounting period, according to Companies House for the 25/26 period was actually May 31st, all that is actually is draft figures the actually final accounts do not have to be submitted till Feb 27th 2027, I believe the figures they are working to are 22/23, 23/24 & 24/25 of which that 3 year period totals a loss of around 64m which is within the allowance, any monies required for 25/26 can actually be covered between now and the final submission next February, pretty sure that’s how it works so that’s where I think the reported 90m goes towards working capital and the main issue which appears to be the approx. 40m loan that’s due to mature shortly, so any sales, although likely, I don’t believe are desperately needed right this minute.
Wasn’t the issue that they won’t be able to invest the £90m after 30 Jun as they will come under Championship rules – I seem to remember someone saying that they can only invest £15m after then.