By David Owen
March 16 – The sale of Ashley Williams and the recently-returned André Ayew allowed Swansea City to return to profit last season. A £36.9 million gain on player disposals turned a £23 million operating loss into a £13.4 million profit at the pre-tax level. This compared with a £14.6 million pre-tax loss the previous year.
Turnover for the year to 31 July 2017 rose more than £30 million to £127.8 million as a consequence mainly of the new Premier League TV deal. Payroll costs climbed around 20% to £98.7 million.
Controlled these days by a US investment group headed by Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, who have joined the board of directors, the Welsh outfit endured a difficult season on the pitch, but ultimately managed a 15th-place finish, seven points clear of the drop-zone.
While overall directors’ remuneration fell from around £878,000 to £634,000, the highest-paid director got an increase of more than 26% from £500,368 to £633, 666.
There was a net decrease in cash of £12.7 million over the year. Total borrowings surged from an insignificant £301,042 to £9.28 million. The club explained that during the year it had borrowed funds from an “approved financial institution” under a term loan agreement. The value of the loan drawn down was £9.065 million. It is repayable in instalments, with the scheduled final repayment date in July 2019. It accrues interest at 3.5% a year.
Notes on contingencies in the accounts disclose that the club has “responded to certain HMRC requests for further details pertaining to historic employment tax matters”.
Directors consider themselves “appropriately accrued” for such liabilities under prevailing law, but note that, should certain areas of tax case law be superseded, there could be a “retrospective impact on the club”. An awareness of “other ongoing proceedings” has led them to conclude that an “adverse outcome, whilst improbable, is not necessarily remote at this stage”. They are unable to make “reliable estimate of any potential exposure”.
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