Hammers debt on the rise again!
by Sean Whetstone
Back in 201 on taking over the Irons, David Sullivan famously revealed the club was over £100 million in debt!
And within a few weeks he and fellow co-chairman David Gold had made in clear there would be 25 per cent cuts across the board as they started their “good housekeeping” measures to take the club towards solvency.
However, the publication of the club’s annual accounts demonstrate that things are heading in the wrong direction again – debt is seems is going north!
Sullivan explained all on taking over : “We’ve paid down some of the debt and injected some working capital.
“But there’s still more than £100 million of debt. There’s £50 million owed to banks, there’s £40 million owed to other clubs.
“There’s not a penny to come in, they (the previous owners) have borrowed against the next two years of season-ticket money. ”
He pointed out too that the sponsors had paid 70% of their three-years up front and additionally the club had a settlement to (former manager) Alan Curbishley, thus making the real debt about £110 million.”
That’s the history but during last season net debt increased by nearly £7 million from £70.7m in 2012 to £77.4m in 2013.
Bank debt increased by over £14 million from £30.5m in 2012 to £44.6m in 2013
Re-financing of the bank debt in July last year saw a new facility worth £26.7m which is repayable by 31st December 2016 and is secured against Upton Park as a mortgage .
Debt from loans from sharholders increased from £35.2m to £45.7m as Sullivan and Gold injected a further £10.5m of cash last season.
Total borrowings including share holder loans have increased from £72.5m in 2012 to £90.9m in 2013.
Total creditors have risen from £125.7m in 2012 to £145.5m in 2013 and on top of that are the two short term loans from Vibrac Corporation to aid their cash flow secured against future TV income from the Premier League.