By David Owen
October 15 – Manchester City has emulated the bulk of its Premier League rivals by moving into profit – for the first time since the club’s takeover by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008. The club from the blue side of Manchester reported a pre-tax profit of £10.4 million for the year to end-May 2015.
This compared to a loss of £22.9 million in 2013-14, when the club was one of just a handful of Premier League outfits to remain in the red, as results across-the-board reflected the benefit of a bumper new broadcasting deal.
With turnover little improved at £351.8 million, it was a further reduction of staff costs, along with removal from the equation of the £16.3 million settlement paid to UEFA in May 2014 following disputed breaches of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, that propelled the club to what chief executive Ferran Soriano described as its “historic step” into profit.
Staff costs in the latest year dipped back down below the £200 million mark to £193.8m. A 12% reduction, from £233 million to £205 million, in aggregate payroll costs had already been achieved in 2013-14 after a swingeing cut – from 222 to 112 – in football staff.
The new accounts show that contingent liabilities climbed again to nearly £113 million, after almost doubling to £100.6 million in 2013-14.
A note to the accounts states that: “Additional transfer fees, signing on fees and loyalty bonuses of £112,918,000 (2014: £100,563,000) that will become payable upon the achievement of certain conditions contained within player and transfer contracts if they are still in the service of the club on specific future dates are accounted for in the year in which they fall due for payment.”
The club made a £13.8 million profit on the disposal of players in the latest period, against less than £200,000 in the previous 12 months. Net expenditure on players, including Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi, acquired since the latest year-end was put at some £68.3 million.
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