LONDON - 3 October 2006 - For the first time in over a decade Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs are now collectively in profit, albeit a modest one of £2.8m, according to the 17th Annual Financial Review of Scottish Football published by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
The review, which uses publicly available information drawn from the clubs’ annual accounts held at Companies House, analyses in detail the financial state of the SPL.
David Glen, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers commented:
“Clubs are now feeling the effects of the financial recovery which began last year. But before we get too carried away it is important to understand that the results benefit from one-off credits which total £22m. These include a £15m accounting gain at Rangers, £3.6m from debt write-off at Dundee and a similar £3.3m debt write off at Dunfermline.
“Clubs have continued to reign in spending on wages and the figure now sits below £100m for the first time in 5 years. They have also resisted the urge to spend major amounts in the transfer market.
“With debts gradually going in the right direction after a tumultuous few years it is now time for clubs to look forward to the next phase, to try to secure and increase revenues and attain a truly sustainable business model.”
The review shows that the Old Firm of Celtic (£62m revenue) and Rangers (£55m revenue) continue to be the financial powerhouses of the SPL. Meanwhile clubs outside the Old Firm have seen revenues increase by an average of 18%.
Key findings of the PricewaterhouseCoopers annual review of the Scottish Premier League include:
- the combined SPL debt had fallen to £129m from £184m, principally as a result of Rangers’ £52m rights issue
- it is predicted that this debt will have fallen to under £100m at the end of season 2005/06 led by encouraging financial performance from both sides of the Old Firm
- expenditure on wages has again fallen, and now sits below £100m for the first time in 5yrs with total expenditure of £96m
- 7 out of the 12 clubs now have a wage to turnover ratio of less than 60%
- for the second year running there was no net expenditure by the SPL of transfer fees
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