Guardian Club by Club guide to club finances.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/25/premier-league-finances-club-by-club-breakdown-david-conn?CMP=share_btn_tw

Southampton:

Southampton

 

Accounts of St Mary’s Football Group Limited for the year to 30 June 2015

 

• Ownership Owned by Katharina Liebherr, resident in Switzerland

 

• Turnover 11th highest in League £114m, up from £106m in 2014

 

• Income Match-day income £18m; Premier League and broadcasting £84m; Commercial £10m; Other £1m

 

• Wage bill 9th highest in League £80m, up from £63m in 2014

 

• Wages as proportion of turnover 70%

 

• Profit before tax £15m, following £29m profit in 2014

 

• Net debt £48m

 

• Interest payable £2.8m

 

• Highest-paid director Unnamed, £376,604 (Ralph Kreuger is the chairman)

 

State they are in: Steady and improved financial stewardship, and expectation-exceeding performances in the league – not what was direly predicted when the former executive chairman, Nicola Cortese, left in January 2014, followed by the manager, Mauricio Pochettino, and a clutch of prized young players. The owner, Katharina Liebherr, who inherited the club among the business interests of her father, Markus, when he died in 2010, appointed another chairman, Ralph Krueger, and the club has continued to flourish under Ronald Koeman’s management. The accounts show that Liebherr financially supports the Saints; she increased her loans to £33m, on which £1.6m interest has accrued.

Interesting that we had the 9th highest wage bill last year.Presumably with the new deals for Fraser, Virgil and JWP plus a potential new contract for Koeman (does that count for our wage bill?) we've moved up a bit since...

We seem to have the ninth highest wage bill in the league according to that.

A truly wonderful end to a simply delicious season.

Cue the skates w@nking themselves into a frenzy over the 48 million debt

Other than that, looks like we're doing marvellously as usual. More of the same please

Interesting that we had the 9th highest wage bill last year.Presumably with the new deals for Fraser, Virgil and JWP plus a potential new contract for Koeman (does that count for our wage bill?) we've moved up a bit since...

And that figure *probably* doesn't include last summers signings.

We seem to have the ninth highest wage bill in the league according to that.

 

A truly wonderful end to a simply delicious season.

Except the wage bill mentioned was for last season (2014/15) not the season just completed. These figures are all based on data that is nearly a year old (clearly because there is nothing later available). Why did the Grauniad feel it was newsworthy to issue an article based on season 2014/15? We all knew this stuff anyway.

I have seen other comparisons which suggest our wage bill is around 16th in the league.....................hmmmm

I have seen other comparisons which suggest our wage bill is around 16th in the league.....................hmmmm

That was the previous year, the club increased their wage bill by 17m.

Except the wage bill mentioned was for last season (2014/15) not the season just completed. These figures are all based on data that is nearly a year old (clearly because there is nothing later available). Why did the Grauniad feel it was newsworthy to issue an article based on season 2014/15? We all knew this stuff anyway.

You think every Premier League football club is able to file their accounts, and for them to be compiled into a central, published report in a national newspaper within a week and a half of the season ending? Okay then.

You've never been the brightest on here, but well done on excelling yourself.

To be clear, this is not stuff "everybody knows" - this is newly collated info and the Guardian tend to run this report about this time every season.

Tottenham are remodelling their stadium and will be short of money. Whether they would want to spend their precious transfer budget on Vic is debatable.

This limit arises out of the apparent unwillingness of the owners of Tottenham to fund the stadium out of their billions of personal wealth. If they were willing to do that financial fair play would not require them to reduce their spending.

Interesting that we had the 9th highest wage bill last year.Presumably with the new deals for Fraser, Virgil and JWP plus a potential new contract for Koeman (does that count for our wage bill?) we've moved up a bit since...

Also, one of the clubs ahead of us, Aston Villa, went down so we are probably 8th now. Also, the 80 million figure is for all staff salaries, not just players.

You think every Premier League football club is able to file their accounts, and for them to be compiled into a central, published report in a national newspaper within a week and a half of the season ending? Okay then.

 

You've never been the brightest on here, but well done on excelling yourself.

 

To be clear, this is not stuff "everybody knows" - this is newly collated info and the Guardian tend to run this report about this time every season.

Exactly. In fact, up until this past year, Southampton was filing its financials in March or April. Assuming that some of the other clubs are still doing that, this article has some fairly new information.

up until this past year, Southampton was filing its financials in March or April. Assuming that some of the other clubs are still doing that, this article has some fairly new information.

I believe you must file accounts within ten months of the end of the financial year, and Saints normally use nearly all of that time. If you release accounts in April 2016 for the financial year ending June 30th 2015 the activity will date from July 1st 2014 onwards. Its pretty hard to draw accurate conclusions about what is happening now from that info.

Only worth looking in a year or so at the impact of the new TV deal really.

 

As for the debt, well it's borrowed from the owner isn't it, or certainly most of it so not the worst situation. A few years of premier league football with current TV deal and it'll be paid off pretty quickly. But understandable that to a club like Pompey that would seem like an impossible situation and about 100 years income.

Actually, it might not be paid off at all. I doubt we do actually pay it back, it just sits there and will probably one day be written off like the initial Liebherr debt was (converted to equity which is the same thing when there's only one owner).

Can someone explain please why Katharina needed to increase her loan to the club if we made a profit of £15 million?

Can someone explain please why Katharina needed to increase her loan to the club if we made a profit of £15 million?

Good question - it's got me worried

Hashtag bring back Pinnacle.

Can someone explain please why Katharina needed to increase her loan to the club if we made a profit of £15 million?

Will probably be related to cashflow. Working capital injection of some sort.

Wouldn't be surprised if the wage bill is inflated by the one-time write off of Osvaldo's contract. In reality the wage bill is closer to £72m which would align with the Swiss Ramble numbers (which are identical to the Guardian's in all other respects). That said, the figures published on OS present a different picture still...

I'm not au fait with money matters but the little snippet about Spurs' owners ENIC being based in the (tax haven) Bahamas irked me a little. I'm not sure if it means they are cheating or being clever (possibly both I imagine) but it's another reason to loath them at least.

Wouldn't be surprised if the wage bill is inflated by the one-time write off of Osvaldo's contract. In reality the wage bill is closer to £72m which would align with the Swiss Ramble numbers (which are identical to the Guardian's in all other respects). That said, the figures published on OS present a different picture still...

This And it's worth mentioning (for those interested) that a figure of £72m places (or placed...given that the information pertains to the 14/15 season) us 12th in the wages paid stakes.

I'm not au fait with money matters but the little snippet about Spurs' owners ENIC being based in the (tax haven) Bahamas irked me a little. I'm not sure if it means they are cheating or being clever (possibly both I imagine) but it's another reason to loath them at least.

Yeah, not like our owner - the one who lives in Switzerland and pays all of that 1% tax rate!

We dont sit to pretty in the net debt table, and we are one of the highest in the wages to turn over table...

Considering we have been banking massive TV payouts for recent seasons with no significant transfer spend I find that slightly underwhelming.

Wouldn't be surprised if the wage bill is inflated by the one-time write off of Osvaldo's contract. In reality the wage bill is closer to £72m which would align with the Swiss Ramble numbers (which are identical to the Guardian's in all other respects). That said, the figures published on OS present a different picture still...

No way did we give Osvaldo an £8m payoff. Most credible sources were quoting a salary of around £60kpw, or £3m a year. They came to a mutual agreement, I wouldn't be surprised if it was around half of his remaining contract, i.e. £3m.

Yeah, not like our owner - the one who lives in Switzerland and pays all of that 1% tax rate!

Good point. Well made.

No way did we give Osvaldo an £8m payoff. Most credible sources were quoting a salary of around £60kpw, or £3m a year. They came to a mutual agreement, I wouldn't be surprised if it was around half of his remaining contract, i.e. £3m.

I think the £8m 'exceptional costs' may also include bonuses, but don't quote me on that

Yeah, not like our owner - the one who lives in Switzerland and pays all of that 1% tax rate!

Yes, the one who lives in Switzerland as a Swiss citizen and pays the tax due in that country, like I live in the UK as a UK citizen and pay UK taxes - unlike Spurs owners who I very much doubt actually live in the Bahamas as Bahamian citizens so use said country purely to obtain preferential tax rates - there's a difference.

But thank you so much the underhanded comparison.

Shows class does that.

(by the way, tax-avoidance, if that's your inference, isn't illegal - you do it yourself, or perhaps you want forego your annual £11k personal tax allowance or ISA?)

Yes, the one who lives in Switzerland as a Swiss citizen and pays the tax due in that country, like I live in the UK as a UK citizen and pay UK taxes - unlike Spurs owners who I very much doubt actually live in the Bahamas as Bahamian citizens so use said country purely to obtain preferential tax rates - there's a difference.

 

But thank you so much the underhanded comparison.

 

Shows class does that.

 

(by the way, tax-avoidance, if that's your inference, isn't illegal - you do it yourself, or perhaps you want forego your annual £11k personal tax allowance or ISA?)

I wasn't intentionally being snarky or inferring anything - just joking

Ps I'm an accountant so I have no problem with people getting the most out of their money!

I wasn't intentionally being snarky or inferring anything - just joking

 

Ps I'm an accountant so I have no problem with people getting the most out of their money!

No probs...

I'm not au fait with money matters but the little snippet about Spurs' owners ENIC being based in the (tax haven) Bahamas irked me a little. I'm not sure if it means they are cheating or being clever (possibly both I imagine) but it's another reason to loath them at least.

Yeah, not like our owner - the one who lives in Switzerland and pays all of that 1% tax rate!

Good point. Well made.

I don't think it is, actually - it's a pretty facile point.

The Swiss tax rate benefits her personally, not the football club. Katharina Liebherr presumably grew up in Switzerland and has lived there for ages. Now, her family may have moved there originally for financial reasons but she hasn't gone to the trouble of setting up a network of overseas ownership vehicles to minimise the tax liabilities of SFC.

The Swiss tax rate is only relevant on her personal income. The club's corporate group is in England and the companies will pay UK corporation tax on their profits in accordance with UK law. Swiss personal tax rate will apply to any money she takes out as a dividend (which, so far, is £0, I think).

Now, I'm sure we will structure shareholder loans, intra-group debt and various other things to minimise group corporate tax burden and it may be that Spurs are not doing anything which gives them much of an additional advantage at all - and I'm sure they are legally compliant - but drawing an equivalence between the country of residence of a personal shareholder and the establishment of a corporate structure in a completely unrelated country which benefits from low corporation tax is not the same thing at all. As I say, it's facile.