Arsenal Unveils £36.7m Pre-tax Profits

Premier League club Arsenal has unveiled pre-tax profits of £36.7m for the end of the financial year, an increase of £10m on the prior 12 month period.

The results, which cover the year ending 31st May 2008, show a rise from £26.9m last year with turnover also increasing, from £223m to £200.8m, reflecting growth in revenues following the club’s move to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal also announced that US investor Stan Kroenke, who holds a 12.4% stake in the club, has been invited to join the board as a non-executive director.

The move is widely seen as a deterent to the machinations of fellow stakeholder Alisher Usmanov, the Russian billionaire with the largest if not majority share of the club, who has been manoeuvering towards making a takeover bid.

Commenting on the financial results, Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood stated: ‘We are committed to operating the club as a business which is financially self-sustaining. This is clearly demonstrated having achieved our second highest ever pre-tax profit of £36.7m.

‘Over the last two seasons Emirates Stadium has taken our football revenues to a new level, but we cannot be complacent. Accordingly, we recognise the need to further develop the business commercially on a worldwide basis.

‘We have reported significant growth in turnover to £223m reflecting a growth in our core football business. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, new Premier League domestic and overseas TV deals have led to a rise in broadcasting income of £24.1m to £68.4m, and secondly, matchday income was £94.6m and remained the most important component of the Group’s income.’

When asked the reasons why turnover was so high, Hill-Wood added: ‘The most significant factor is the new TV deal which has increased income by just over £24m. In addition, the inaugural Emirates Cup which we hosted in 2007 brought in £4m.’

Hill-Wood also explained that manager Arsene Wenger would have funds available to bring in players commenting: ‘The accounts which we have released today show that the Group had cash balances of some £93m at 31st May 2008. This is clearly a very healthy position from which to support the manager’s spending plans.

‘However, it must be recognised that £31.5m of this cash is held as security for the debt service of our Bonds and its use is therefore restricted, also there is a strong degree of seasonality to our cash flow with season ticket renewals during May having a positive impact on the year-end cash figure.’