The American company that runs catering at the London Stadium has published its annual accounts.
Delaware North Companies (UK) Hospitality Services Limited has catering contracts at The Emirates, Pride Park, as well as the London Stadium. They have also taken on the contract at Sunderland for their return to the Premier League this season.
Revenue, including the London Stadium, fell to £49.5m, down from £50.2m last year.
Cost of sales was £12.4m, with administrative costs at £36m, leaving an operating profit of £1.1m for 2024
However, after finance charges of £2m, the catering firm lost £921,000 for the year, slightly better than the £1.1m they lost in 2023.
They last made a profit of £1.8m in 2022 after a loss of £6.6m in 2021
Simply in 2020, they registered a loss of £4m after a £2m profit in 2019.
Since taking over the London Stadium catering contract in 2016, the company has lost £6.2m in total.
The 25-year catering contract for the London Stadium was awarded to the US-based company in 2015 and has another 15 years to run.
Never really noticed any ‘hospitality’ services at London Stadium, Sean.
They need to up their game and get their heads out of the past if they want to provide a profitable service at LS.
Good luck to them, though. Hope they can make some progress. Consistent 3.00pm Saturday kick-off times would help with experiences.
COYI
It’s better for a company’s owners to pay themselves a massive amount as administrative costs, instead of producing a profit and paying tax.
If they can’t succeed selling beer at football matches to a captive audience, they are really in the wrong game
If they’re making a profit at operating level, they’re not doing so bad, it means they are able to service the debt and afford the variable costs of the business. Ok, a net loss isn’t great, but it means they won’t be paying tax in any great amount for a while. Not all bad.