Albion's finances - for those who like graphs and charts.

[Not Andy Naylor]

http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/brighton-and-hove-albion-welcome-to.html

Nothing very new, but loads of coloured bars and wavy lines to explain what our accounts mean.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Really enjoyed that, thank you.
Good to see graphically where we fare against other clubs.

All looks good with the only growing nasty being gross debt now at £145m - third worst behind QPR £185k and Bolton £195k
If ever TB want's out, might be awkward?

 

[Cian]

All looks good with the only growing nasty being gross debt now at £145m - third worst behind QPR £185k and Bolton £195k
If ever TB want's out, might be awkward?

The debt is mostly to him and in the form of convertible loan notes, is it not?

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Really enjoyed that, thank you.
Good to see graphically where we fare against other clubs.

All looks good with the only growing nasty being gross debt now at £145m - third worst behind QPR £185k and Bolton £195k
If ever TB want's out, might be awkward?

Which I'd hazard a guess will be the part supporters of other clubs will focus on when this gets discussed.

 

[Uter]

Love reading this blog. His third on Brighton now. He estimates Bloom has now invested 217 million. Dear god, that's an incredible amount.

The debt is huge, but he makes the point that it has mostly been invested in facilities rather than to fund ongoing operating losses. Plus of course, it's interest free. Having said that, the longer we stay in the Championship, the more this is going to grow so that's a concern too.

If we did go up this season he conservatively estimates that even if we finished bottom next season, we'd receive over 90 million in TV and prize money. Even though the loan terms could not be more favourable I wonder if some of this money would be used to reduce the debt. I don't think anyone could begrudge Tony Bloom that.

 

[El Presidente]

Even though the loan terms could not be more favourable I wonder if some of this money would be used to reduce the debt. I don't think anyone could begrudge Tony Bloom that.

I think it's highly unlikely that TB will take any of the PL money as a debt repayment.

Wage bill in PL likely to rise from £22 million to £70-80 million, plus amounts spent on transfers and agents will swallow up most/all the income increase.

Even established PL clubs such as Everton are still losing money.

 

[Ernest]

http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/brighton-and-hove-albion-welcome-to.html

Nothing very new, but loads of coloured bars and wavy lines to explain what our accounts mean.

No MENTION of the 1983 FA Cup Final Money

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Really enjoyed that, thank you.
Good to see graphically where we fare against other clubs.

All looks good with the only growing nasty being gross debt now at £145m - third worst behind QPR £185k and Bolton £195k
If ever TB want's out, might be awkward?

If TB wants out he'd need to be able to sell the club and find someone top take on the debt. You can't just ask for the money back, as simply the club would fold and the adminsitrator would need to find a buyer; a situation which TB would never even consider as it would be financial suicide.

 

[Uter]

I think it's highly unlikely that TB will take any of the PL money as a debt repayment.

Wage bill in PL likely to rise from £22 million to £70-80 million, plus amounts spent on transfers and agents will swallow up most/all the income increase.

Even established PL clubs such as Everton are still losing money.

I don't think it's highly unlikely. 15 PL clubs made a profit in 2013/14. Palace made 23M and still did well so it can be done. Plus a massive new TV deal kicks in next season and wage inflation tends to lag behind for a season or two when this happens. It depends on how much of a millstone Tony Bloom considers such a high level of debt to be, but I think the option would probably be there if he wanted to.

 

[symyjym]

Interesting seeing the transfer spend, or lack of, under Oscar.

 

[El Presidente]

I don't think it's highly unlikely. 15 PL clubs made a profit in 2013/14. Palace made 23M and still did well so it can be done. Plus a massive new TV deal kicks in next season and wage inflation tends to lag behind for a season or two when this happens. It depends on how much of a millstone Tony Bloom considers such a high level of debt to be, but I think the option would probably be there if he wanted to.

Palace did exceptionally well for a small club, but they are the exception.

Next season, should we be promoted,
will need a substantial investment in the squad. Agents know this, players know this, and will take this into consideration when negotiating.

Plus Tony Bloom is an Albion fan, he wants us to succeed in the top flight, so it would be counterintuitive for him to take money out when the club needs to spend to be at a level with the likes of established provincial clubs in the PL.

 

[Postman Pat]

http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/brighton-and-hove-albion-welcome-to.html

Nothing very new, but loads of coloured bars and wavy lines to explain what our accounts mean.

Great piece of writing, thanks.

One question - on the Player Amortisation - if the £10m player signs a contract extension for another 2 years at year 4 (so has 3 years left), does the remaining balance get re-calculated? i.e the final £2m gets spread across the 3 years, or still based on the original 5 year contract?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

That's a shitload of work he's done on that.

 

[Uter]

Palace did exceptionally well for a small club, but they are the exception.

Next season, should we be promoted,
will need a substantial investment in the squad. Agents know this, players know this, and will take this into consideration when negotiating.

Plus Tony Bloom is an Albion fan, he wants us to succeed in the top flight, so it would be counterintuitive for him to take money out when the club needs to spend to be at a level with the likes of established provincial clubs in the PL.

I don't think they are the exception though. Most PL clubs have made a profit in recent seasons. I don't disagree that there would be substantial investment in the squad should we be promoted, however even allowing for this I think that we would make a profit next season. I think if we don't use any profit to reduce our debt, it will be because of your final point, not because we failed to be profitable, but I can see you disagree so hopefully we will have the chance to find out.

Personally I find it staggering to think that promotion could result in us having a turnover somewhere between 110M and 130M next season. Just a few seasons ago we only managed around 5M.

I think we should see a substantial rise in commercial income too, not just TV money, as you'd expect that promotion should trigger increased payments from American Express for their various sponsorships. If they don't then Paul Barber has not been doing his job properly.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Fascinating stuff. Seems like, on the whole, the tricky balance between investing or showing ambition, and keeping an eye on costs so as not to land us in trouble if we don't go up, is being found this season anyway.

 

[Mattywerewolf]

A fantastic summary. Thanks very much!

 

[Vankleek Hill Seagull]

and who could forget Leon Best, the most inappropriately named player since Dennis Wise.

 

[Peter Grummit]

I think it's highly unlikely that TB will take any of the PL money as a debt repayment.

Wage bill in PL likely to rise from £22 million to £70-80 million, plus amounts spent on transfers and agents will swallow up most/all the income increase.

Even established PL clubs such as Everton are still losing money.

Staggering that we would expect the annual wage bill to grow by more than £50m! For the current players it must feel like an all-or-nothing situation: I suspect half would never play in the Prem, the other half might treble their wages? Although they will, of course, have a substantial promotion bonus whatever.

I believe this Swiss Ramble guy is an Albion fan, although he does similar (if not quite so comprehensive) blogs on other teams. Does his £217m Tony investment tally with your own EP?

PG

 

[Discodoktor]

We have probably missed out on promotion by not investing in players at the right time and playing FFP.
Instead we continue to lose £10 million a year as the gulf between the premiership and the championship increases. There has also been young high quality footballers who prices continue to rise despite everyone saying at the time wow that was a lot of money.

Rhodes, Gray, Austin, McCormack, Ince etc

I think our interest in The argentine cavalia and reportedly Lookman shows if we reckon they are worth it we will spend. We might just need to be a bit more aggressive. Shame we didn't get Van Dijk, kept Murray, got Ulloa earlier.

I wish we went for kodija I thought he looked like a player whose price will rise with experience . I also think we need to consider our options if Wilson is recalled. Could be deflating.

 

[perseus]

Sign Lookman and we wouldn't have to worry about James Wilson. He was the best young winger I've ever seen on that start!

Even excelled the Peter Ward debut at Hereford. Bruno did everything right (enough to stop any other winger he has ever faced) and still didn't get close.

I've always been in favour of keeping some readies back until that rare player comes along.