Club debt rises to £163.8 million!!!

Bolton Wanderers' debt reaches record levels

FINANCIAL reality continues to bite at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] after the club revealed they were a record £163.8million in the red this morning.
Parent company Burnden Leisure Plc reported losses of £50.7m, which see debts rise massively from last year’s £136.5m.
Turnover was down by £30m from £58.5m to £28.5m, while total staff costs for the year were £37.4m, down from £55.3m. The wage bill, currently standing at£32.7m is at its lowest level since 2007.
Chairman Phil Gartside said: "This year's results show the difficulties faced in the football business when a club has enjoyed a sustained and successful period in the Premier League, in our case 11 years, then suffers relegation back to the Football League Championship."
The chart below shows how Wanderers' debt has risen since 2005.
 
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This chart shows how Wanderers' wage bill has been curbed in the last 12 months.

Burnden Leisure Plc has released its figures for the financial year ending June 2013.

The year saw a group financial loss of £50.7million. Excluding a number of one-off exceptional items relating to balance sheet impairments and other accounting adjustments this figure stands at £34.5million.

Chairman Phil Gartside said: "This year's results show the difficulties faced in the football business when a club has enjoyed a sustained and successful period in the Premier League, in our case 11 years, then suffers relegation back to the Football League Championship."

Turnover was recorded at £28.5million, in comparison to the previous season's figure of £58.5million, primarily due to the reduction in broadcasting revenue following relegation from the Premier League.

The Chairman added: "The ever widening gap between the two leagues makes the transition extremely difficult, even with the benefits of parachute payments from the Premier League."

Total staff costs for the year were £37.4million, down from £55.3million, as a result of a number of players leaving the club as well as the evoking of relegation clauses in a number of players' contracts and making significant changes in overheads.

Attendances at home matches decreased by 24%, while ticket prices for the 2012/13 season were again frozen and the club once again made use of the interest-free direct debit scheme.

Gate receipts were £3.8million, as compared to £5.7million last year.

In difficult economic conditions, sponsorship and advertising revenue reduced from £4.3million to £1.4million, a 68% fall, while revenues from corporate activity also dropped year on year to £1.1million.

General administration costs reduced by 10% to £14.1million from £15.7million.

Net debt is now recorded as £163.8million, of which £151.3million is owed to MIL.

As part of Eddie Davies' on-going support, effective from July 2013 interest owed to MIL was reduced to a 0% rate.

Both Burnden Leisure's education business and the Bolton Whites Hotel continue to make positive strides, whilst planning approval for the Middlebrook Masterplan development is expected early next year.

Gartside concluded: "It should go without saying that Eddie Davies continues to provide a humbling level of support to the club. However, the financial support given by owners is no longer possible in this league without severe penalty.

"We are responding to a changing environment by improvement and development of the wider Burnden Leisure business interests.

"This year we secured sole ownership of the hotel, expanded our education business and applied for planning permission to increase our non-football operations to improve revenues over the medium to long term.

"We will continue to invest, both in the long and short term, where the returns can be justified.

"However, Financial Fair Play rules require an alternative funding structure and Bolton Wanderers is very much moving towards a self-sustainable future.

"Looking forward we have to recognise we are no longer a Premier League club in the Championship, but a Championship club with ambitions to play in the Premier League; a stark reality of the financial rules now imposed."


To view the full report and accounts CLICK HERE

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is that why there is a black background today? This all makes for uncomfortable reading, surely this new development will mean even more debt or am i being thick?

Even getting back to the Premiership (no laughing at the back) wouldn't get rid of this debt, we really are in the shit.

As part of Eddie Davies' on-going support, effective from July 2013 interest owed to MIL was reduced to a 0% rate.

How refreshing to read of such generosity.

Got to go out soon so can't really comment much except to say don't believe all you read.

Simply use common sense.

The debt is nearly TWICE as mich as the owners entire wealth - would any sane man risk their (and their family's financial future) on Gartside, Megson, Coyle, etc?

Would you still (or any other business in the world) employ Gartside for leading us to over a £100 millon loss in his time as chairman UNLESS he was rtnning the business as you wanted it to be run (for whatever reason that may be)?

The debt now is not being paid an interest - so in theory the owners of the money are making a bigger loss (if they had just kept their money in a bank they would be getting a rate of interest return on it) so why are they still ploughing in even MORE money to keep the club solvent? It's not as though we are going to be making any money anytime soon.

The £170 million as to have come from somewhere unless Eddie found it down the back of his sofa, so someone or another is happy enough to give huge sums of money with seemingly little care if they ever got it back. Is this really how people invest legal funds?

Something at the club is clearly not right financially in my opinion.

We made massive losses when we were in the Premier League and we continue to have massive losses whilst being in the Championship. It's all very grim reading.

I see the Leicester City owner has just wiped out, all of the clubs debts, it's a pity this can't be done by Eddie, but he's not worth around 1 billion, like the Leicester owner.

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This figure beggars belief !! 130 million in debt was a crisis.
How can a football club 18th in the Championship survive this debt ? very dark days ahead.

 

A £33m wage bill is awful for this level.

59 players employed, a fraction of which will have featured in the first team, each pocketing an average £11,000 a week. 

"...will be staying at the club on reduced wages."

Ha ha, it's a classic that one.

Still, where the other £45m went is a tricky one.

We can only hope there's more to it than what meets the eye.

'Turnover was down by £30m from £58.5m to £28.5m, while total staff costs for the year were £37.4m'


Just to give you some kind of comparison.......


Our total staff costs were £15,369,000 for the year June 2012 to June 2013..

We need an Oil Barron because we just can't survive at this rate.

Copper Dragon wrote:'Turnover was down by £30m from £58.5m to £28.5m, while total staff costs for the year were £37.4m'


Just to give you some kind of comparison.......


Our total staff costs were £15,369,000 for the year June 2012 to June 2013..

Our staff costs were more than double that of Burnley. I thought the club were supposed to have made massive cutbacks in staff running costs?

It does take a bit of time Reebok Trotter depending on length of contracts.

Having said that it was only £22 million when we were in the Premier League.

' Turnover was down by 30 million from £58.5 to £28.5, while total staff costs for the year were £37.4m.'

The above sentence says it all. It's a recipe for disaster when you are spending more than you are earning. No wonder there is no money for Dougie to invest in new players. The sooner we get rid of the high earners from our Premiership days the better for all of us.

On top of the staff costs there will usually be amortisation of players registrations.

Copper Dragon wrote:On top of the staff costs there will usually be amortisation of players registrations.

There's a player trading loss in there of £20,667,000 made up of amortisation, impairments, provisions, and profit on disposals.

What would happen if heaven forbid, Uncle Eddie, were to pop his clogs? I'm sure I read somewhere that neither his son or daughter have any interest in football.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!! 168million?!?   

I wouldn't even like to pay off the .8 of that, though with the likes of Ngog and Mears on the books i'm not surprised we are in the shit.

That's a whole heap money...this is why getting in the Premiership is really important. If we managed to get back in I suspect we'd not invest much money on the squad in an attempt to reduce the debt.

Reebok Trotter wrote:What would happen if heaven forbid, Uncle Eddie, were to pop his clogs? I'm sure I read somewhere that neither his son or daughter have any interest in football.

i've wondered this as well, it needs sorting out we can't rely on his family just writing off the debt like Jack Walker did.

we need a rich owner, start a whip round or sell part of the stadium to a supermarket again!

Why does anyone give a shit? Football clubs of our size and stature simply don't go out of business. If the debt was £300m would anything really change?

I wish we would go out of business, but I'm not that lucky.