Post by Macmoish on Feb 29, 2012 7:35:30 GMT
Not sure I understand how they made such a loss. Relatively successful in the Premiership (ie they're there)...Relatively well supported, etc)
David Conn/The Guardian
Aston Villa announce record losses of £54m under Randy Lerner
• Villa losses worsened 42% in 2010-11
• Club sold Stewart Downing and Ashley Young for £37m
Aston Villa lost £54m in the year from 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2011, the club has announced. That is a record loss since the American credit card magnate Randy Lerner bought Villa in 2006, and the club's losses have deepened every year since. In the previous year, 2009-10, Lerner's UK-based holding company which owns Villa, Reform Acquisitions, lost £38m, so losses worsened 42% in 2010-11.
Lerner himself continues to fund the club, via an ultimate holding company also called Reform Acquisitions, registered in the US, and Villa said Lerner has invested a further £25m into the club. Companies House documents show the total Lerner has invested in return for shares is now £133m; he has also put money in as loans, but Villa did not release full figures, only the headlines of their financial results, so the total Lerner has invested is not yet known.
Despite that investment, Villa sit 15th in the Premier League table and with attendances at 42,582-capacity Villa Park generally in the low 30,000s for matches against all but the biggest clubs. They announced they spent £12m in "exceptional charges" in 2010-11 relating to changing the club's "management personnel". That apparently refers to Martin O'Neill, who left in August 2010 and subsequently achieved a financial settlement at a tribunal, and also compensation paid to the departing Gérard Houllier and to Birmingham City for Houllier's replacement, Alex McLeish, although that change happened in June 2011 after the date of these latest accounts.
Villa pointed to a slight increase in the club's annual income to a record £92m as a pleasing development: "This was achieved despite a backdrop of instability as the 2010-11 season constituted one of the most turbulent in the club's recent history," the club said.
In the summer of 2011, Villa sold Stewart Downing to Liverpool for £20m and Ashley Young to Manchester United for £17m, a total of £37m, with Charles N'Zogbia, for £9.5m and Shay Given, for £3.5m, £13m altogether, the major arrivals.
The scale of losses and of subsidy paid in by Lerner, at a time when clubs are seeking to move towards breaking even to comply with Uefa's "financial fair play" rules, partly explains why Villa decided they could not refuse the offers for Downing and Young. Since then, the club have tried to bring down the wage bill, although the figures for spending on wages were not released.
Robin Russell, Villa's chief financial officer, said: "The board is confident that the actions taken since the end of the 2010-11 financial year have galvanised the longer-term sustainability of the club and have given us a better financial platform on which to build for future success.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/28/aston-villa-losses
TELEGRAPH
Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner propped up club by at least £25 million in past two years
Randy Lerner has plunged £25 million of his own cash into Aston Villa over the past two years in an effort to keep the struggling former European champions on an even keel.
By Matt Scott
The billionaire owner’s money has come in addition to the £37 million raised through the sales of Stewart Downing to Liverpool and Ashley Young to Manchester United last summer.
“The 2010-11 season constituted one of the most turbulent in the club’s recent history,” the club said at the reporting of their annual accounts to May 2011.
There was an unexpected £12 million burden placed on the club’s finances, reported by Aston Villa as “changes in football management personnel”. These related to the enforced departure through illness of then-manager Gérard Houllier and his backroom staff.
However, the compensation costs demanded by Birmingham City, whose Carling Cup-winning manager Alex McLeish joined Villa in the close season, are unlikely to have been included in the accounts released yesterday. His move across the second city came after the balancesheet date.
Documents at Companies House indicate how Lerner has regularly injected millions of pounds of fresh share capital into the club since the previous accounting period ended in May 2010.
There was an instalment from the American of more than £7.5 million in July 2010, £5 million more in December that year and another £12.5 million was put forward during the same months last year.
During the 12 months to May 2011, the overall loss for all group companies attached to the club was £53.9 million, up from £37.6 million the previous season.
This reflected a drop in match-day income from the 2009-10 campaign, when Villa were beaten Carling Cup finalists and also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup.
Despite the drop in gate money, Villa did record a 15.9 per cent increase in commercial income, and raised their revenues to a record £92 million, making them one of the 20 richest clubs in Europe by turnover.
There were other encouraging signs that a corner may have been turned as bank debts were reduced by £8.3 million.
However, with the picture over the club’s sustainability still uncertain – costs such as wages were not made public by Villa on Tuesday – it is unclear whether fresh player sales will be required. Villa’s finance director, Robin Russell, implied they would not.
“The board of Aston Villa are confident that the actions taken since the end of the 2010-11 financial year have galvanised the long-term sustainability of the club and have also given us a better financial platform on which to build for future success,” he said.
“Our objectives are to compete strongly on the pitch and to achieve sustainability as well as compliance with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play requirements.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/9112156/Aston-Villa-owner-Randy-Lerner-propped-up-club-by-at-least-25-million-in-past-two-years.html
David Conn/The Guardian
Aston Villa announce record losses of £54m under Randy Lerner
• Villa losses worsened 42% in 2010-11
• Club sold Stewart Downing and Ashley Young for £37m
Aston Villa lost £54m in the year from 1 June 2010 to 31 May 2011, the club has announced. That is a record loss since the American credit card magnate Randy Lerner bought Villa in 2006, and the club's losses have deepened every year since. In the previous year, 2009-10, Lerner's UK-based holding company which owns Villa, Reform Acquisitions, lost £38m, so losses worsened 42% in 2010-11.
Lerner himself continues to fund the club, via an ultimate holding company also called Reform Acquisitions, registered in the US, and Villa said Lerner has invested a further £25m into the club. Companies House documents show the total Lerner has invested in return for shares is now £133m; he has also put money in as loans, but Villa did not release full figures, only the headlines of their financial results, so the total Lerner has invested is not yet known.
Despite that investment, Villa sit 15th in the Premier League table and with attendances at 42,582-capacity Villa Park generally in the low 30,000s for matches against all but the biggest clubs. They announced they spent £12m in "exceptional charges" in 2010-11 relating to changing the club's "management personnel". That apparently refers to Martin O'Neill, who left in August 2010 and subsequently achieved a financial settlement at a tribunal, and also compensation paid to the departing Gérard Houllier and to Birmingham City for Houllier's replacement, Alex McLeish, although that change happened in June 2011 after the date of these latest accounts.
Villa pointed to a slight increase in the club's annual income to a record £92m as a pleasing development: "This was achieved despite a backdrop of instability as the 2010-11 season constituted one of the most turbulent in the club's recent history," the club said.
In the summer of 2011, Villa sold Stewart Downing to Liverpool for £20m and Ashley Young to Manchester United for £17m, a total of £37m, with Charles N'Zogbia, for £9.5m and Shay Given, for £3.5m, £13m altogether, the major arrivals.
The scale of losses and of subsidy paid in by Lerner, at a time when clubs are seeking to move towards breaking even to comply with Uefa's "financial fair play" rules, partly explains why Villa decided they could not refuse the offers for Downing and Young. Since then, the club have tried to bring down the wage bill, although the figures for spending on wages were not released.
Robin Russell, Villa's chief financial officer, said: "The board is confident that the actions taken since the end of the 2010-11 financial year have galvanised the longer-term sustainability of the club and have given us a better financial platform on which to build for future success.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/28/aston-villa-losses
TELEGRAPH
Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner propped up club by at least £25 million in past two years
Randy Lerner has plunged £25 million of his own cash into Aston Villa over the past two years in an effort to keep the struggling former European champions on an even keel.
By Matt Scott
The billionaire owner’s money has come in addition to the £37 million raised through the sales of Stewart Downing to Liverpool and Ashley Young to Manchester United last summer.
“The 2010-11 season constituted one of the most turbulent in the club’s recent history,” the club said at the reporting of their annual accounts to May 2011.
There was an unexpected £12 million burden placed on the club’s finances, reported by Aston Villa as “changes in football management personnel”. These related to the enforced departure through illness of then-manager Gérard Houllier and his backroom staff.
However, the compensation costs demanded by Birmingham City, whose Carling Cup-winning manager Alex McLeish joined Villa in the close season, are unlikely to have been included in the accounts released yesterday. His move across the second city came after the balancesheet date.
Documents at Companies House indicate how Lerner has regularly injected millions of pounds of fresh share capital into the club since the previous accounting period ended in May 2010.
There was an instalment from the American of more than £7.5 million in July 2010, £5 million more in December that year and another £12.5 million was put forward during the same months last year.
During the 12 months to May 2011, the overall loss for all group companies attached to the club was £53.9 million, up from £37.6 million the previous season.
This reflected a drop in match-day income from the 2009-10 campaign, when Villa were beaten Carling Cup finalists and also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup.
Despite the drop in gate money, Villa did record a 15.9 per cent increase in commercial income, and raised their revenues to a record £92 million, making them one of the 20 richest clubs in Europe by turnover.
There were other encouraging signs that a corner may have been turned as bank debts were reduced by £8.3 million.
However, with the picture over the club’s sustainability still uncertain – costs such as wages were not made public by Villa on Tuesday – it is unclear whether fresh player sales will be required. Villa’s finance director, Robin Russell, implied they would not.
“The board of Aston Villa are confident that the actions taken since the end of the 2010-11 financial year have galvanised the long-term sustainability of the club and have also given us a better financial platform on which to build for future success,” he said.
“Our objectives are to compete strongly on the pitch and to achieve sustainability as well as compliance with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play requirements.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/9112156/Aston-Villa-owner-Randy-Lerner-propped-up-club-by-at-least-25-million-in-past-two-years.html
