By David Owen
November 2 – Everton, whose shirt sponsorship deal with Chang, the Thai beverage company, is now the longest-running in the Premier League, has become the latest top-flight English club to report a pre-tax profit for the 2013-14 season.
In the latest sign that the new set of Premier League broadcast deals has played a significant role in putting top English clubs on a sounder financial footing, the team representing the blue end of Merseyside posted a profit of £28.2 million for the year to 31 May 2014, up from just £1.6 million the previous year.
The latest figure was even more than the £23.5 million reported in 2004-05 when Everton finished above Arsenal, Manchester United and arch-rivals Liverpool at the head of the Premier League profit table. That was explained mainly by the sale of a teenage prodigy called Wayne Rooney to Manchester United.
This time as well, a substantial – £28.2 million – profit on disposal of player registrations was an ingredient in the mix. However, what gave the figures real impetus was a jump, from £86.4 million to a record £120.5 million, in the club’s revenue, thanks chiefly to a £32.8 million surge in broadcast income.
Critically, staff costs were restricted to a comparatively modest 10% increase, with the result that the key wage:turnover ratio dipped fully 15 percentage points from 73 to 58%.
The only downside is the club’s particularly heavy dependence on broadcasting revenues: these accounted for almost three-quarters (73.4%) of 2013-14 turnover, up from 64.5% in the space of a year.
The result seems sure to put the Toffeemen among the most profitable English clubs of last season. Whether this sort of profit level becomes the norm, however, remains to be seen.
A note on post balance sheet events reminds the reader that, since its financial year-end, the club has “entered into transfer agreements for confirmed contracted net transfer fees payable at £28,805,000”. The bulk of this will have gone to secure the transfer of Belgian centre-forward Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea for a reported £28 million.
As chairman Bill Kenwright underlined, the club is also in the early stages of investigating a potential new stadium site at Walton Hall Park.
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