Manchester City have announced losses of £126million in their 2019-20 financial results as the Premier League leaders count the cost of the coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, City s revenues were down 11 per cent to £478.4million from the previous 12 months.
The year in question runs up until June 30, 2020, taking in the period when the Premier League was suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis and meaning deferred revenues for the 2019-20 campaign have impacted the figures.
Nevertheless, City s matchday revenue was down by £13.5million, UEFA broadcast revenue fell by £18.5m and all other television money dropped by £44.5m, although money raised from commercial streams was up by £19.5m.
Leroy Sane s move to Bayern Munich for an initial £44.7m is not included, and the report also points to some planned player sales deferred until the following season , which could be a reference to Angelino – the full-back who re-joined RB Leipzig on loan before the Bundesliga club triggered a £16million obligation-to-buy clause this February.
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Clearly, the 2019-20 accounts in isolation are not the best representation of the reality of the season with delayed player trading and numerous games being played after June 30 2020, the revenues from which will be accounted in the 2020-21 period, said City chief executive Ferran Soriano.
A better financial picture of the COVID years will be provided at the end of the 2020-21 season, when the two seasons are combined and normalised.
Last July, City had a two-season ban from UEFA competitions overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with a €30million fine for contravening Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules reduced to €10m.
In the report, the club said: For full context, the 2019-20 results should be viewed alongside the 2020-21 results. This has been recognised by UEFA and exceptional changes to their licensing and regulatory approach will assess the combined results of both seasons.
The directors remain confident that the club’s results for the two-year period will fall within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play requirements.
City continue to be linked with big-money moves, such as one for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says he remains confident in the club s overall financial strength despite the reported losses.
Like most organisations, we did not have a business strategy for a global pandemic. What we had, and still have, is a business that is fundamentally strong, with committed shareholders and with significant assets, built carefully over a decade and upon more than a century of history, the City chairman said.
Over time, our income streams have been deliberately shifted and diversified – our fan base and audiences are global as well as local, our physical and digital infrastructure strategies are mature, and our commercial partnerships are diverse in terms of regions, industries and structures.
Our long-term approach has meant that we are now not wholly dependent on those income streams that have been most vulnerable to the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
City are closing in on a third Premier League title in four seasons. They faced a clash against Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
