Town’s accounts for the year ended 31 May 2013
Huddersfield Town has today detailed its results for the last financial year.
This was the fourth full year of Dean Hoyle’s Chairmanship of the Club and the first year of Championship football since 2000/01.
During the year the Club continued to implement the business plan that was developed during early 2009:
“Working together to be a successful, sustainable and financially viable football club that we can all take pride in”
The strategy continues to be underpinned by the Club’s ten core values, which remain at the heart of everything we do:
“honesty.... integrity.... trust.... character.... commitment.... success.... value....quality.... pride.... respect”
Chairman Dean Hoyle commented:
“2012/13 was another memorable year and ended on a high note, with the retention of Championship status. The changes and progress made in the first season back in the Championship after eleven seasons should not be under estimated. That success marked a major step forward for the Club on the field and allows us to continue moving forward in many different ways.
“Getting the Club back on track is a long term job. Lots of hard work and a considerable amount of money have been put in to get us to this point, but the Club is moving closer each year towards standing on its own feet. This is because of the combination of lower losses from Financial Fair Play rules, our own improved commercial trading plus crucially increasing cash from player trading. This reduces the reliance on me as an individual and that is of course good for everyone seeking to see a vibrant and sustainable Club.
“Adjusting to life in the Championship has been tough but also exciting. I remain fully committed to the Club and I am excited about the future. Buying and selling players, the wages we can afford and the cash burden on me, mean tough decisions have to be made on occasions.
“It has brought me huge pride to lead the Club in the Championship and see Canalside develop. I am looking forward with enthusiasm to continuing the journey. The support I receive from the fans as Chairman is second to none and always greatly appreciated In return. I will always be honest, work in the best interests of the Club and give it everything.”
Chief Executive Nigel Clibbens commented:
“The level of overall losses incurred in 2012/13 was as expected and planned.
“The headline reduction is, in large part, due to the record breaking sale of Jordan Rhodes and non-recurring income from cup runs and TV, offset by contract termination costs and additional player wages. We are progressing well in reducing the level of recurring losses and the level of shareholder support needed to run the Club. Our development reflects our commitment to implementing the plan.
“In the year, Dean Hoyle’s continuing funding of transfers for new players, higher football expenditure and the completion of enduring projects like the training ground at Canalside has once again been very significant, but critically this was accompanied by retention of our Championship status, which is very important to the sustainability and continued progression of this Club on and off the field.”
Huddersfield Town’s Commercial Director Sean Jarvis added:
“We are striving to be successful on and off the field. Continued growth of the Club’s own recurring income from match-day, commercial and retail and further improvements in the ability to pay-its-way from its everyday business operating activity has continued. This is especially noteworthy in such tough economic times.
“Commercially we are continuing to head in the right direction. Our relationships with official partners including our shirt sponsors Rekorderlig and Thornton + Ross, through its Radian B and Covonia brands, remain strong and several new names have joined the Club’s commercial portfolio.
“We currently have 70 official partners to the Club, who all invest and financially support us. Their support, as well as our fan base, collectively makes for the backbone of the Club.”
Clibbens continued:
“The long term improvement in our trading, supplemented by income from player sales, Championship football and Financial Fair Play, are all moving the Club towards financial viability and sustainability.
“The cost of the John Smith’s Stadium continues to be a very heavy and increasing drain on the Club, but our ability to pay for it continues to improve year on year. The share deal to acquire a part ownership in the ground will worsen the burden in the short term but offers new opportunities especially in the development of HDOne.
“Championship football, together with investment in the Club’s playing staff, people and infrastructure made off-the-field during the ‘New Era’, is coming to fruition. The hard work goes on every day in a tough climate.
“At a time when some clubs are moving in other directions, we will not take any supporter for granted and we value our heritage and history which are all foundations we are building on.
“The Championship continues to be a highly competitive league with ever widening levels of financial resources for spending on Football Expenditure, driven by hugely increased Premier League parachute payments and very large levels of shareholder support as many clubs pursue the riches of promotion. We cannot and will not compete financially in the Championship by seeking success based on spending more and more money. That would be completely unsustainable and irresponsible for the management of this football club.
“Since promotion in May 2012, we have chosen to go down a different route, but this takes time to achieve a transition. We are building and developing our own approach with strong values and a clear philosophy; we have a clear vision of what makes our club great and what we want to be in future. In this context we will continue to have realistic expectations, operate with financial prudence and adopt sound business practices; we will seek to be innovative, risk taking and not follow the pack.
“We are long term advocates of the need to change the finances and economics of football and have wholeheartedly supported Financial Fair Play since its inception; we believe it is consistent with our own long term strategy and the interests of the wider game.
“Looking forward, even though we have benefited financially from promotion and player trading, we expect 2013/14 to be a challenging year commercially for the Club as we develop in the Championship. We forecast Underlying Recurring income in 2013/14 will increase only marginally to circa £12m, with a modest rise in Underlying Contribution. Operating losses will be reduced by lower spending on player wages, again defrayed by profits on player sales.”
Key headlines 2012/13
• Total Headline Turnover £11.2m (2011/12 £7.39m). This headline increase was mainly the result of higher levels of income from Football League distributions from promotion
• For the fifth consecutive year, Underlying Recurring Turnover (excluding one-offs like cup runs and TV) was up. The increase was +59% (2011/12: +11% increase) at £10.4m (2011/12: £6.52m). This was mainly driven by a £3m increase in income from the Football League relating to the Club’s Championship status and an increase in Commercial income
• Underlying Contribution was £5.5m (2011/12: £3.05m; 2010/11: £2.78m; 2009/10: £2.37m and 2008/09: £1.5m). This is an increase of +79% (2011/12 increase: +9.4%)
• The rent and other contributions payable to KSDL in respect of Stadium infrastructure was £887,000 (2011/12: £838,000) excluding the match day costs of stewarding
• Total Football Expenditure increased by +61% (2011/12: 12%; 2010/11: 29%) to £13m (2011/12: 8.09m)
• £7.1m (2011/12: £2.36m) of profit from player sales (including the sale of Jordan Rhodes)
• Overall total loss of £4m (2011/12: £5.7m)
• £1.074m of capital expenditure investment, primarily on Canalside
• Additions of new player transfers of £2.2m (2011/12: £1.86m)
• Overall total asset value of player registrations £1.98m (2011/12: £2m) which is considerably below resale value
Notes:
Underlying Contribution measures the Club’s ability to pay for its football activities and stadium independent of shareholder support. Underlying Contribution is the net of all income and costs from all the Club’s trading but excluding:
(a) Non-recurring activity (one-off activity such as profits from Cup matches, Play-Offs and TV),
(b) Rental and contribution payments due to KSDL (in respect of the financing the Stadium) and
(c) Total Football Expenditure (costs of on the field activities)
Total Football Expenditure comprises all Player Costs plus coaching costs plus all football operations related support costs (scouting, recruitment, travel, IT, analysis and medical)
Player Costs comprise all football player related employment costs including wages and salaries and taxes and bonuses plus agent fees
For notes on data trends regarding Town's accounts, click HERE to download a PDF
