LIVERPOOL Football Club’s parent company UKSV Holdings ran up losses of £54.6m last year, according to accounts filed at Companies House yesterday.
At the same time UKSV’s accounts show bank debt of £69.8m and debts owed to its American parent company of £19.5m, implying total loans of £89.3m at its May 2012 balance sheet date.
The figures suggest that Liverpool still has some way to go to bring its figures in line with new Premier League rules governing football club finance.
A separate set of accounts for Liverpool Football Club, a subsidiary of UKSV, show a pre-tax loss of £40.5m, which compares to a loss of £49.3m in the previous year.
Player amortisation costs in UKSV’s accounts are £12m higher than the figure shown in Liverpool Football Club’s accounts, even though they cover the same period.
Rules introduced last month give the Premier League the power to deduct points from clubs that run up cumulative losses in excess of £105m over a three year period. At its current level of operational gearing Liverpool could be in danger of breaching this rule.
The accounts for the year to May 2012 cover a 10 month period as the club seeks to align its financial year with the football season.
Liverpool didn’t play in any European competition during the 2011/12 season covered by the accounts. The club appeared in the Europa League the season before that but its ongoing failure to qualify for the prestigious Champions League competition is costing the club an estimated £30m a year.
The club’s accounts show turnover of £169m, down on the £183.6m recorded for the 12 months to August 2011. However the 2011/12 figure would have been £188.7m had the accounting period stretched for the usual 12 months.
A breakdown of the turnover figure shows the club had media revenue of £62.8m, only slightly down on £65.3m earned in 2011 because the lack of Europa League football was offset by good domestic cup runs.
The shorter reporting period had no effect on media income as that income is earned only during the part of the year covered by the 10 month accounting period anyway. The same is true of matchday revenue which was £42.3m for the 2011/12 season compared to £40.9m in the previous year.
Commercial revenues were £63.9m, down from £77.4m, which the club says is attributable to the shorter reporting period.
Administrative expenses before exceptional items, but including players’ wages, were £176.5m, down from £193.1m, which is also attributable to the shorter accounting period.
Exceptional costs of £10.4m were incurred, of which £9.6m was “restructuring” costs that included paying off former team manager Kenny Dalglish.
The accounts show a modest loss of £1.7m on player trading. That compares with a huge profit of £43m a year earlier which includes the proceeds from the sale of Fernando Torres.
Bank interest payable was £3.7m, up from £3.1m.
The club’s financial situation has improved since the year end after Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group pumped £46.8m into the club by way of an interest free loan.
The new money paid off bank debt used to fund development of Stanley Park.
Through UKSV the club has access to a total of £120m though this has been partly utilised.
Its £150m kit deal with Warrior will also help improve the club’s finances in the years ahead.
Liverpool says that despite not playing in Europe it has made financial progress in recent years. It has also hired a team of commercial managers to exploit international markets and digital opportunities. It is the most globally active football club on Twitter with 1.4m followers of accounts operated in nine languages.
