By David Owen
January 30 – Everton have gone some way to soothing the pain of this week’s Merseyside derby drubbing at the hands of local rivals Liverpool by publishing a strong set of financial figures for the year to end-May 2013.
The blues managed a pre-tax profit of £1.6 million, a positive swing of more than £10 million when compared with the previous year’s £9.1 million loss.
The result, achieved on turnover of £86.4 million, appears to leave the club, currently lying sixth in the Premier League and playing an attractive, high-tempo brand of football under new manager Roberto Martinez, well-placed to derive maximum benefit from the league’s lucrative new cycle of TV deals. It may also go some way to explaining how a club with only a fraction of the financial firepower of the Premier League big boys were able to offer star left-back Leighton Baines a deal attractive enough to persuade him to sign a new four-year contract.
Higher turnover and lower operating expenses, helped by a reduction in headcount of playing, training and management employees, still left the club with an operating loss of close to £10 million, though this was around half the previous year’s figure. The latest loss included £10.6 million for the amortisation of players’ registrations, down from £12.9 million in 2012.
But a £15.6 million profit on player disposals was enough to ensure the Goodison Park club bounced back into the black, even after £4.2m of net interest. Players who left the club in the period included Tim Cahill and Phil Neville, while new arrivals included Kevin Mirallas and Bryan Oviedo.
Chairman Bill Kenwright used his statement to pay tribute to the most notable recent departee of all, former manager David Moyes, now in the hot-seat at Manchester United. Though his departure was an “unwelcome shock”, Kenwright said that Moyes “left our club in a completely different place to where he found it, and all Evertonians owe a debt of gratitude”.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734845554labto1734845554ofdlr1734845554owedi1734845554sni@n1734845554ewo.d1734845554ivad1734845554