Celts hit by losses of £12.6m
CELTIC yesterday announced a post-tax loss of £12.6million for last season as Covid-19 and reduced transfer income hit home hard. The Parkhead balance sheet also showed £630,000 was paid in ‘settlement agreements on contract termination’, which includes the departure of former manager Neil Lennon back in February. Chairman Ian Bankier pointed to a lack of fans and a drop in the value of player sales being key factors, saying: ‘(The loss) was driven by revenue attrition and significantly lower gains on player trading, compared to the prior financial year. ‘In the face of this adverse swing in financial performance, we are satisfied that we took sufficient and appropriate steps to mitigate the losses and control costs in the
business. The trading restrictions from Covid-19 translated into lost earnings and, taking account of the seasonality in our trading, this was the key factor in the widening of our losses in the second half of the financial year.
‘Conditions have improved since the year end and we were delighted to welcome our fans back in July 2021. ‘Although our stadium has been operating at near full capacity, recently announced Scottish Government restrictions on large venues will be a further challenge. ‘Whilst we look forward with optimism to a more normal operating environment, we are mindful of the inherent risk of the pandemic continuing to affect public health.’ The Parkhead club made a small pre-tax profit the previous year, which resulted in a total loss of £368,000. However, revenue was down by 13 per cent to £60.8m for the year ended June 30, 2021, after a disastrous campaign that saw them lose the league crown to rivals Rangers. Operating expenses also fell by eight per cent but they were still significantly higher than revenue at £74.4m.
The club made a loss on their transfer activity, bringing in £9.4m and spending £13.5m — although they have since sold Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie for a combined total of around £30m.
Bankier added: ‘Our strategy of balancing player development and player trading is fundamental to our selfsustaining business model. ‘The disposal of the registrations of Edouard and Ajer demonstrates our core strength of being able to transform young talented players into seasoned professional footballers. ‘In turn, we invest the proceeds of these transactions back into the first-team squad to enable us to continue to develop our squad and to challenge for future honours.’
There were no further details on the recent departure of Dominic McKay as chief executive, around ten weeks after he officially succeeded Peter Lawwell. But former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov urged the club to step up their hunt for a successor to McKay and to appoint a director of football to ease the burden on Ange Postecoglou. ‘If you don’t have a sustainable structure, then it’s very difficult to run a club because everything comes from the top,’ said Petrov. ‘There needs to be people looking at the short, medium and long term, because if you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a direction.’