Manchester City today announced they lost £121m for the 12 months ending 31 May this year, up from a loss of £92.5m for the previous year. The £121m is the second largest loss in history for a Premier League team. Chelsea back in 2004-2005 set the record with a £141m loss.
Man City chief executive Garry Cook tried to spin the result somewhat by saying:
“Player acquisitions on the scale we have seen in recent transfer windows will no longer be required. The squad is in ideal shape.”
What Cook did not comment on was the fact that City’s wage costs of £133m exceeded its turnover of £125m last year. It is ok running a short-term loss if you are buying new players to improve the squad. But is is not a sustainable business model if you spend more on players wages than you receive in revenue.
On the plus side for City, they did increase earnings from £87m in 2008-2009 to £125m, with all 35,000 season tickets sold for the season and “partnership income” – chiefly sponsorship deals – rising by almost 400% to £32.4m.
