Celtic have announced an operating loss of £3.6m compared to a profit of £11.8m this time last year.
The failure of the club to secure UEFA Champions League football last season cost them an estimated £15m, while the club have also cited the fact they did not cash in on key players as another reason for the downturn in profit.
A statement from Ian Bankier, the Celtic chairman: "These results, which show an operating loss of £3.6m compared to a profit of £11.8m last year, reflect two key factors. First, lower contribution from the sale of player registrations, and second, diminished income from competing in the UEFA Europa League competition. The lower contribution from the disposal of player registrations was as a result of the Board deciding to retain certain registrations to aid and enhance value for the football operations.
"The Board remains committed to ensuring that the medium and long-term future of the Club, and the Company, is secured. Having regard to the environment in which we continue to operate, the Board’s belief in a self- sustaining financial model has not waivered. We believe that there is no other sensible way to operate. The model is designed to protect the Club from the inherent unpredictability of football. Although the Board is very disappointed not to have secured qualification for the Group Stages of the UEFA Champions League for season 2015/16, that failure does not put at risk the continued operation of the Club. We are confident that our model provides a platform for improved financial performance in the year to 30 June 2016.
"The Club’s strength and stability off the pitch allows us to give full support to the Football Manager in securing his transfer targets, whilst at the same time continuing to invest in the Youth Academy that will develop our young players for the first team. Disappointed at the outcome of the Champions League qualifier, we look forward with optimism to the season ahead. We wholeheartedly support Ronny Deila and his support staff as they strive to make Celtic stronger on the pitch."
Peter Lawwell, the club chief executive, added: "Off the pitch, it was also a challenging year. Our decision not to transfer certain players registration during the period, together with failure to progress in the UEFA Champions League, have had a significant impact on revenues and profits.
Our core strategy remains focussed on a football operation with a self sustaining financial model and relies upon: the youth academy; player development; player recruitment; management of the player pool; and sports science and performance analysis, to deliver long term sustainable football success. The Board reviews our strategy on an ongoing basis and, having regard to the environment in which we play, considers that it will continue to deliver stability, growth and success for Celtic. Notwithstanding the decline in revenues and profits, at the end of the financial year our cash at bank position had increased slightly to £4.72m (2013:£3.83m). This is essential given the challenges of operating in the Scottish football environment and our fluctuating cash requirements during the year to come. Celtic has strong foundations upon which to build."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel