Soccer

Manchester City’s annual losses down to €29 million

Club confident they will meet Uefa’s fair play break-even rules this season

Manchester city owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan: has invested €1.46 billion in the club in six years. Photo: Andrew Yates/AFP
Manchester city owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan: has invested €1.46 billion in the club in six years. Photo: Andrew Yates/AFP
David Conn
Thu Dec 04 2014 - 01:00

Manchester City

believe they will comply with Uefa’s financial fair play break-even rules this season after announcing they reduced their annual loss to €29 million in 2013-14.

In the season during which the club won the Premier League and League Cup trophies, City made income of €442 million a €96 million increase on 2012-13, by far a record for the club.

The annual accounts show Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, who bought City in 2008, has invested €1.46 billion over six years, more than that invested by Roman Abramovich in Chelsea and therefore the most by any owner in English football history.

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Huge academy

That includes €203 million invested during 2013-14 to build the huge academy complex due to open on Monday across the road from the Etihad Stadium. The project has included a contribution of around €25 million towards community facilities including a school and leisure centre next to the academy.

Ferran Soriano, City’s chief executive, said the €29 million loss, which includes the €20 million reduction in Champions League payments from Uefa because of City breaching FFP rules over the 2012 and 2013 accounting years, reflected “a new level of financial sustainability”.

Soriano said City were expecting to make a profit in this financial year and to enter next season with “no outstanding sanctions or restrictions”.

City’s wage bill fell by €35 million to€261 million which the club said was partly because of restructuring involving the formation of a parent company and of group companies to service the other clubs Mansour has bought in New York, Melbourne and Yokohama. The City companies charge each other for services provided; City noted €12.7 million of services the football club had provided to other group companies and €3.3 million the club paid the parent company.

The results also show City are no longer the club with the biggest wage bill in the Premier League – they are now second behind Manchester United’s €273.7 million.

Winning the title in the first year of the Premier League’s €7 billion, 2013-16 TV deal brought City €130 million from domestic broadcasting; €39 million was made from competing in the Champions League. Commercial income, principally sponsorship by Etihad, other Abu Dhabi companies and increasing “partnerships” around the world, amounted to €211 million, also by far a record for City.

City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubaraksaid City were now where they hoped to be when the “heavy investment” started.

Guardian Service