By David Owen
March 19 – Tottenham Hotspur have disclosed another sizeable annual profit, though chairman Daniel Levy has warned that the current coronavirus pandemic amounts to the biggest hurdle the club has faced in two decades.
In an announcement on its website, the North London outfit said it had made a profit for the year to end-June 2019 totalling £68.6 million “after all charges including interest and tax”.
This was well down on the towering 2017-18 figure of £113 million. However, with the Premier League results season now approaching three-quarters complete, Spurs look well-placed to top the divisional profits table for a second consecutive year.
Revenue at the club, which had been enduring a difficult, transitional season under José Mourinho before the global crisis last week brought matters to an abrupt halt, once again surged, this time by fully £80 million to £460.7 million.
Much of the advance was down to the success in reaching the Champions League final, where they were beaten by Liverpool. The run yielded £108.4 million in gate receipts and prize money, up from £62.2 million the previous year.
Sponsorship and corporate hospitality revenue was also well up at £120.3 million, against £93.4 million. TV and media revenues edged up from £147.6 million to £149.9 million, but Premier League gate receipts were down by £8.3 million to £34.3 million. The club ended up playing 14 of 19 Premier League home games at Wembley and just five at its gleaming new stadium.
As previously announced, the £637 million debt mountain incurred largely to erect this impressive edifice was converted subsequent to the financial year-end into a mix of long-term maturities. The longest of these extends to fully 30 years, with the average life said to be 23 years.
Profit from operations, excluding football trading and before depreciation, was said to be up somewhat from 2017-18 at £172.7 million, compared with £162.5 million. More detailed analysis will follow once the accounts have reached Companies House.
Regarding coronavirus, Levy made the following uncompromising statement: “I have spent nearly 20 years growing this club and there have been many hurdles along the way – none of this magnitude.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is the most serious of them all.”
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