Town’s accounts for the year to June 2023 show total loss of £18.17 million, the second season following the Gamechanger 20 Ltd takeover and the year in which the Blues won promotion back to the Championship. The loss, which had been wholly expected as the new owners invested in the club both on and off the field, was up on the £12.64 million in the previous year. The club made an operating loss of £19.83 million compared with £14.39 million in 2022. Turnover was up from £14.4 million in 2021/22 to £21.8 million, other operating income was £908,000 compared with £106,000 a year previously and operating expenses £42.9 million, up from £28.9 million a year earlier. The wage bill was up from £16.4 million in 2021/22 to £19.8 million.
Season ticket sales were 17,877, up from 12,870, and along with matchday ticket sales brought in £8 million compared with £5.7 million in the previous season, while commercial revenue was up from £3.38 million to £5.4 million.
Merchandise sales, with the Ed Sheeran-designed third kit and the other strips big sellers, were £4.5 million, up from just over £3 million in 2022. Club employees were up to 201 from 196.
Proceeds from player sales came to £2.3 million, largely the Flynn Downes sell-on and youth players such as Calum Logan, up on the £2.67 million in the previous season.
Since the end of the year, the accounts state that the club has acquired player registrations totalling £4.13 million, the fees for the likes of George Hirst, Cieran Slicker, Jack Taylor and Ali Al-Hamadi.
Town are obliged to pay a maximum of an additional £691,000 in respect of transferred players, excluding amounts which have already been provided for and those which are considered remotely likely of becoming due.
During the year, the club issued £29.46 million in additional shares. In League One, injections of cash had to be made through equity, so the club issued more shares whenever additional cash needed to come in from the owners.
The accounts show the club to be in a strong position in terms of Profit and Sustainability, the Championship’s Financial Fair Play system, but wholly in a League One environment when spending will inevitably have been lower than is the case in a Championship season. The Championship assesses clubs over a three-year period with a loss of no more than £39 million permitted over that time if an owner covers these losses by injecting equity rather than loans.
Internal debt is limited to legacy preference shares from the Marcus Evans era which have been taken on by Gamechanger. The only external debt is £394,000 in loan notes issued in the years following the club’s spell in administration just over 20 years ago.
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