Ipswich Town FC reports annual pre-tax loss of £6.6m
Ipswich Town's Portman Road ground on matchday. Picture: Steve Waller www.stephenwaller.com - Credit: Picture: Steve Waller
Ipswich Town Football Club has reported an annual loss of more than £6m after a sharp fall in profits from player sales compared with the previous year.
The pre-tax loss of £6.641m for the year to June 30, 2016, compares with a profit of £5.468m for the previous 12 months.
However, that figure benefited from a profit of more than £12.1m from the disposal of players and other assets, principally involving the sales of Aaron Cresswell to West Ham United and Tyrone Mings to AFC Bournemouth.
The equivalent figure for 2015-16 was just £603,000, although this does not include the sale of Daryl Murphy to Newcastle United which took place after the year-end.
Excluding player trading, the club’s financial performance was little changed, with an operating loss of £6.565m for 2015-16 compared with a loss of £6.007m the previous year.
The increased operating loss largely reflected a fall in turnover, from £16.414m to £16.284m, coupled with increases in administrative expenses and wages.
Gate receipts were unchanged at £6.5m, with the club’s share of receipts from the League Cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford, which attracted a crowd of more than 56,000, offsetting a dip in average home attendance, from 19,603 to 18,959, and the previous season’s play-off semi-final appearance.
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Commercial income fell from £4.8m to £4.4m, mainly due to the outsourcing of match day public catering from which the club now receives a royalty based on turnover. Corporate sales and sponsorship were also slightly lower although merchandise sales were up on 2014-15 which the club said reflected a continued benefit from the switch to Adidas ask as supplier in 2014.
Football League income,
which includes television and radio fees, grew from £5m to £5.3m, due
to an increase in the basic award distribution rather than any increase in coverage.
Administrative expenses rose from £2.1m to £2.3m, which the club said was due to a re-measurement of the Football League pension fund deficit, in accordance with current financial reporting standards, as well as an increase in general costs.
Total direct costs increased from £19m to £19.7m due mainly to player wages and associated agent fees, with the total wage bill rising from £15.97m to £16.57m.
Net debt at the year-end stood at £86.513m, down slightly from £87.194m a year earlier. The vast majority of this debt is held by club owner Marcus Evans under the terms of his acquisition of a majority stake in 2007.
