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West Ham financial accounts reveal loss

West Ham’s newly announced financial accounts for the 2018/2019 season have been released today which show a record turnover of £190.7m  however, the club posted a big loss of £28.2m when player trading was factored in.

The main areas show:

Turnover increased by £15.4m (8.8%) from £175.3m to £190.7m

TV income grew by £8.9m (7.5%) from to £118.5m to £127.4m

O  Ticket income grew by £2.9m (11.8%) from £24.5m to £27.4m

O Commercial and sponsorship including corporate hospitality sales grew by £3.4m (14.1%) from £24m to £27.4m

Retail and shop sales grew by £500,000 (6%) from £8.2m to £8.7m

O The club published a gross profit of £20.6m but this reduced to a net loss of £28.2m after net spend of player trading was factored in

Wages increased by £29.2m (27.4%) from £106.6m to £135.8m which means wages account for 71,2% of turnover.

The highest-paid director wages (believed to be West Ham Vice-Chairman Karren Brady) increased her salary from £898,000 to £1.13m.

O  Net spend on player transfers was listed at £89.4m for last season 2018/2019 with £6.8m of potential add-ons.  Post balance notes reveal a net spend on transfers of £35.8m last summer (2019) with £3.4m of potential add-ons.

In the last four years the club say they have spent £214.4m net on new players and has invested £22m on infrastructure, including complete refurbishment of facilities at Rush Green, including a new gym and new training pitches; the Academy at Chadwell Heath was totally rebuilt; and almost £2m has been invested in the Women’s team.

An update on West Ham loans:

The club re-paid a £39m short-term loan to Media Rights and Funding between May and July 2019. A new short term loan of £39m with Media Rights and Funding was secured against the training grounds and Stadium lease to help with cash flow. This loan is due for repayment in July 202o.

The Share Holder loan balance £45m has been deferred from payback in January 2020 to a date yet to be defined. Two payments £2.9m were paid to David Sullivan and David Gold in respect of interest accrued on Share Holder loans.  Interest was charged ar 4.25%.  An additional £1m payment was made to a company controlled by David Gold as a partial payment of loan capital brining the total paid back to £3.9m down from £4.6m the previous year.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

7 comments on “West Ham financial accounts reveal loss

  1. A couple of chancers who are out of their depth and comfort zone.
    Sell up, to people who can manage a club and it’s infrastructure competently.

  2. 1. I wish I could find a bank that would pay 4.25% interest
    2. Does anyone believe Karen Brady is worth £1.3 million pa?
    3. This loss need to be seen in context of a one off spending splurge when Pellegrini first arrived and has not been repeated before or since

  3. I always think its better to look at cash flow rather than profit & loss and our accounts still show a healthy positive operating cash flow. Whilst the club spent more than this amount on player purchases, I don’t think many would argue that money was spent well, which seems to be the theme of post Upton Park life.

    The Financial loss seems to be largely driven by a whopping 25% increase in the number of full and part time employees – god knows what they’re doing, but they certainly are not running around on the pitch. If you look at the average salary per employee it was only up by 2%, despite turnover increasing by9%

  4. Why sell up when you can cream 4.25% interest on your loans, lovely cash cow

  5. Hi Guys. Wolves fan here.
    Watch closely accounts of all clubs, since Wolves were accused of breaking FFP Rules by fellow Championship Clubs, which the EFL subsequently cleared the club of.
    Even though the financial accounts for Wolves have yet to be published, the Wolves Chairman announced 2 months ago, that the club had made a £25 million profit in its first year in the Premier League.
    Compare that, with West Ham results.
    Ground capacity of Molineux is around half that of the Olympic Stadium. We also have considerably less Corporate Seats. Ticket prices are considerably less than West Hams, with concessions to pensioners and young supporters roughly on a par. The club also that season changed shirt sponsors, buying out the remainder of the contract with its current sponsors.We also spent £112 million gross on transfers, £89 million nett. Spent large sums on upgrading our Compton Academy and training facilities.
    Our highest paid Director earned £110k in the year we won promotion.
    Owners Fosun, are owed £75 million which is interest free, accrued, gaining promotion to the Premier League.
    Any transfers are now self funding for the current season, based on loans taken out on the Premier League TV Income.
    We continue a transfer policy of spotting and purchasing young talent, so when they do leave the club, they have a sell on value, equal or above the amount we purchased them for, Costa & Cavaleiro being prime examples.
    What we no longer do, is sign PL Players with injury concerns as we did in the past.
    The only exception to these rules, was signing Moutinho for £5 million but only on a 2 year contract, which has subsequently through his performances been renewed.
    If a player looks as if he isn’t going to make it, like Patrick Cutrone he is moved on, before his value plummets.
    As a Wolves fan for 50 years, for the first time in years, I can see a clear vision for the club, with owners who have a clear plan for the foreseeable future

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