Town have announced a loss before tax of £3.2 million in the year to the end of June 2019.

Ahead of this evening’s PLC AGM in Beattie’s, shareholders were given a sheet outlining the financial highlights of the overall club for the year to June 2019.

The PLC owns 12.5 per cent of Ipswich Town Football Club Co Limited and consists of the club's shareholding prior to the takeover 12 years ago with Marcus Evans owning the other 87.5 per cent.

The club made an operating loss of £10.41 million in the financial year 2018/19, while making £7.8 million profit on the disposal of players, the initial fees received from the summer of 2018 sales of Martyn Waghorn to Derby and Joe Garner to Wigan, as well as academy youngsters Ben Knight to Manchester City and Marcelo Flores to Arsenal, and Ellis Harrison’s switch to Portsmouth in June.

Top-ups from earlier deals and the initial sell-on for Matt Clarke - who joined Brighton from Portsmouth in June - are also likely to be included in that figure. Former Blues Tyrone Mings, Adam Webster and Kieffer Moore made their moves after the end of June so their sell-ons aren’t included in this year’s accounts.

Net player trading was £5.4 million - profit on sale of players less amortisation charge - up from £2.7 million the previous summer.

In the previous financial year Town made a loss before tax of £5.2 million and an operating loss of £8.4 million, having received £3.8 million from player trading.

The club’s overall debt has grown from £95.50 million to £96.26 million, owed almost entirely to owner Evans’s other companies - the increase an additional £751,000 in non-interest-bearing intra-group loans - with former MD Ian Milne having previously outlined the position.

“This is no third party debt," he told TWTD in November 2014. “The money that an owner has put into a club, he’s never going to see that back, unless maybe it goes up [to the Premier League]. But even then I doubt he’ll see that return.”

Town’s turnover in 2018/19 was up slightly from £17.13 million in the year to June 2018 to £17.72 million.

The wage bill, by far the club’s biggest outlay, was £18.95 million, 106.97 per cent of turnover, up from £18.53 million during the 2017/18 season. As in previous years, that's likely to have been around the 18th highest wage bill in the Championship.

Gate receipts were down from £4.7 million in 2017/18 to £4.6 million last season, while commercial income was up slightly on the year to June 2018 at £4.98 million from £4.35 million.

Despite the season seeing the Blues relegated from the Championship, the average attendance was up from 16,272 in 2017/18 to 17,767 last season, while season ticket sales were also up at 10,633 having been 10,144. In 2016/17 the total was 12,022.

“Gate receipts were down on last season despite an increase in average attendance due to i) season ticket price reduction of 10 per cent and ii) match ticket promotions in the second half of the season,” the highlights document explains.

“Cup receipts were also lower than last year, down from £90,000 in 2017/18 to £27,000 in 2018/19.

“Commercial revenue increased from £4.35 million to just under £5 million due to the new shirt sponsorship deal with Magical Vegas and the Rod Stewart concert in June.

“Catering and events remained similar to last year, however retail and corporate hospitality sales fell slightly short of 2017/18 levels.

“EFL income was higher than last year due to an increase in the solidarity payment offset by a decrease in the basic award distribution.

“Direct costs increased from £22 million in 2017/18 to £22.5 million this year due mainly to player wages, loan players and associated agent fees as further funds were invested in the first team squad and also our academy.

“Administrative expenses increased from £1.6 million to £2.4 million in the season 2018/19, a similar level to 2016/17 (£2.3 million).

“2017/18 included a one-off refund of historic policing costs following a legal settlement, partly offset by an increase in the club’s share of the EFL’s pension scheme deficit, hence the lower administration costs."

The financial highlights can be found in full on the club site here.

Photo: Action Images

Woodbridgian added 08:54 - Dec 17 And still some idiots on here like to suggest that this is all about tax loses. If in any busness your wage bill is 107% of your turnover your going to make a big loss full stop.
3

tractorboybig added 08:58 - Dec 17 saxonblue.. .we are in real trouble..no way does my pension cover 12.5 million
1

ITFC_95 added 09:23 - Dec 17 It's not just Evans and Ipswich. Almost all championship clubs make a loss year on year. Either the premier league starts to filter more cash down (unlikely) or a salary cap is introduced. Without doing so it seems inevitable that we're headed towards many more bury fc's
1

Radlett_blue added 09:25 - Dec 17 Please can people stop agonising over the debt? It is all owed to MEG, but if he demanded repayment he wouldn't get much back. The only way he recoups any money from his investment in Town is if he writes off the debt and then sells a debt-free Town for, say, £10-15m. Then, he no longer has to fund annual operating losses (£10m last year) but the new owner does.
3

ITFC_95 added 09:29 - Dec 17 Radlett_blue thank you. As you say no prospective buyers is going to agree to pay off his £100 debt and ITFC have no hope of paying it unless we get back to the premier league. Some people don't seem to get it
2

r2d2 added 09:38 - Dec 17 Its time players wages were reigned in. They earn crazy money. Yes, l know its a short career. So, go and get another job once the football has finished. People lose jibs, they have to go find another one, and so did players from yesteryear.
2

ITFCsince73 added 09:41 - Dec 17 Catering and events stayed the same. In other words poor. ME said there would be a big shake up re matchday catering. The wait continues. I've never worked in catering, but even I could manage a 500% rise in matchday catering revenue. And that's on the 1st day. A continued poor offering and experience. Hundreds upon hundreds of supporters deserting the queues at every game because of service, prices, and offerings.

2

dirtydingusmagee added 09:43 - Dec 17 the clubs full '' financial highlights '' can be found on club site! seems like they are as viewable as the highlights of most games of late .We are not doing very well .
1

JewellintheTown added 09:52 - Dec 17 £18.95 million on wages! Well that's money well spent at the moment, isn't it?
3

blues1 added 09:52 - Dec 17 Peaky69. The situation is actually quite simple. He bought the then £25-30m debt for £7m. He invests £7m every season just to service the debt. Without that money going in each season we would be where bury are now. As u and others say, he does get some tax relief against his other companies, but that doesnt cover what he puts into the club each year(including signings, academy, etc). And when he does sell, which he has said, if some1 who can take the club forwards in a better way than he can he will sell, then he wont receive a penny of that money back. In other words he will write the debt off. So in effect he will have lost £100m, around a seventh of his wealth in his time here, yet some still slate him, (not talking about u), saying hes put no money into the club. And those who do should be grateful that he would write the debt off, because if indeed he didnt, then he could then call that debt in from the new owner, at any time, which would be the end of our club. Those fans also need to realise that if hed spent multimillions on players, as they want him to do, wed have no club now.

4

blues1 added 09:54 - Dec 17 Tractorboy2421. The thing is, whoever buys the club will actually buy a club with no debt, due to the fact that Evan's has said he will write the debt off. So they will start with a clean slate.
1

ITFCsince73 added 10:02 - Dec 17 Its amazing how many buisness owners and accountants this site attracts. Also workers within the ME group, with there vast knowledge of the ins and outs.
1

Razor added 10:10 - Dec 17 I am no accountant or fancy at figures but even I can see, and hopefully understand, that to pay more out in wages than you actually take in is totally irresponsible and plain stupid and you deserve what you get?
1

ITFCsince73 added 11:59 - Dec 17 What are you saying Jewellinthetown....the combined 1m a season paid in wages to the fist pumper and his best bud isnt money well spent....
1

WhoisJimmyJuan added 12:40 - Dec 17 All well and good Razor. But if other clubs spend beyond their means and we don't stay competitive we slide further and further down the EFL. And we've hear most people screaming for a new striker in January. I'm afraid it is true to say that our way forward is the academy. But even that means we either get average to quite good players, while the cream is picked off by Arsenal, Man City etc..

1

Gilesy added 13:11 - Dec 17 Fat Boy Tim...excellent stuff. Anyone that thinks Evans benefits financially from the club is thick. It really is as simple as that. Yes, the club will certainly reduce his tax liabilities but not anywhere near the level of the loss itself. If you can't understand that, you really are dense. I'm seeing my accountants on Thursday about my corporation tax. I suspect they won't suggest I run a company making a loss to reduce my tax by 20% of that loss. If anyone thinks this is lauding the way Evans has run the club, it's not; it's simply dealing with facts.

2

Gilesy added 13:28 - Dec 17 And stating that we lack ambition. Apparently we lack ambition for realising the precarious star our club is in and how Evans effectively keeps it afloat, yet they are so ambitious they offer no sensible alternatives.
1

ITFCsince73 added 13:56 - Dec 17 Zzzzz....
1

Gilesy added 14:24 - Dec 17 Well you've convinced me with your well-reasoned counter-argument.
0

Bluearmy_81 added 14:38 - Dec 17 Never said he made money out of losses, just that he hasn't lost 100m in total. He calls the debt in one day and we are screwed or he sells for a whopping loss, wiping the debt. I know which my moneys on.
0

Bergholtblue added 16:37 - Dec 17 Wage bill 107% of turnover? How does that fit in with FFP? Or doesn't that exist anymore.
1

blues1 added 23:08 - Dec 17 Bluearmy81. Then you've lost ur money. Read the story before u post and youd have seen that he quite clearly states that he wont see a penny of that money back. That the only way he could is for us to get to the pl, and even then it would be unlikely.
0

MickMillsTash added 10:06 - Dec 18 Wage bill is amazing Any of our own players apart from Bart was surely not on £1 million last year. We must have been paying the loan players a lot. Did we have to pay Hurst off ?
0

eddiespearitt03 added 23:14 - Dec 19 So why doesn,t Evans get shot of the super stars who offer practically nothing to this club. The football is back to being mostly awful again and some of the same players are still here earning a wage .
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls