Liverpool Football Club have reported an annual loss of £40.5 million for the ten months between August 1st, 2011 to May 31st, 2012.
The loss includes a £21.8 million increase in their debt which now sits at £87.2 million overall. This is a result of an increase in the club’s liabilities, but managing director Ian Ayre was quick to play down any worries.
“It’s definitely not something I believe anyone should be worried or concerned about. It is seasonal – our debt goes up and down,” Ayre told the Liverpool Echo.”We have money to pay out and money coming in, just like any business.
“The difference in football is some of the swings are significant, so if you look at player trading, we may need to make investments as we do in the summer before our key revenues come in: big sponsorships cheques, big ticket revenues, all the media revenues etc.
“You come to Christmas when you maybe have less revenue coming in but you have got money that needs to go out, both on playing deals that you are doing at the time but also on historic player deals.”
Although commercial revenues increased, Ayre believes the debt is a result of the inflated nature of modern football. “Debt has increased but I think it’s a factor of doing business in the time and place we are. We need to continue to improve our squad and what a lot of people won’t relate to perhaps is that when you are improving your squad and making that investment, you have knock-on costs that will create debt in the short term.”
Ayre remained positive and advised Liverpool fans not to worry about the increased debt, as he expects the club to continue to invest in new players.
“In the long term we’ll improve our position. We will continue to invest in the squad – I think that is what our fans would expect. But the most important thing is that we do it prudently and in a sustainable way that is affordable.”
Liverpool currently sit in seventh place in the English Premier League, ten points outside the lucrative Champions League places.
