Club provides details for members on the end of the financial year for last season and the budget for this season
From 1 October, FC Barcelona will make information available to members about the closure of the 2020/2021 financial year and the budget for the 2021/2022 season. This information will be presented as the second and third points of the agenda of the upcoming Ordinary General Assembly of Delegate Members that will take place at Palau Blaugrana on Sunday 17 October.
A 481 million loss to close the year
The 2020/21 financial year closed with operating revenue of 631 million euro, well below the 828 million set in the budget, which also forecast a profit after tax of 1 million euro. Ultimately, the outcome was a loss of 481 million euro after tax, derived from the drop in income and the amount of expenditure.
The operating revenue of 631 million euro for 2020/21 represents a 26% drop on the 855 million euro for the previous year (a fall of 224 million euros) and 24% below the 828 million euros entered into the budget.
Expenditure increased by 19% on the previous season, rising from 955 million to 1.136 billion euro, the highest ever in the Club's history. This led to an increase in the number of fiscal, legal, labour, and defaulting provisions, and following the Due Diligence recommendations. The book value of some players has also been updated having been overpriced, in accordance with the LFP's evaluation criterion.
Financial balance state of play
Based on the criterion established by La Liga, the net debt on 30 June 2021 is 680 million euro. Considering that the total investments made to develop Espai Barça and other extraordinary investments is 122 million euro, the adjusted debt is 558 million euro, meaning the statutory ratio set in article 67 of the Club's Statutes, for Debt / EBITDA, is a negative amount, so the maximum limit set as 2 is not fulfilled.
When it comes to cash and cash equivalents, the Club ends the year with an available cashflow of 63 million euro. The bank debt stands at 533 million euro, with the amount mainly corresponding to the Club's different long-term debt issues on 30 June, as well as the loan for funding Espacio Barça and other extraordinary investments.
When it comes to net equity, the 481 million loss for the 20/21 financial year led to a negative balance of 451 million euro on closure in June.
The difficult path toward budgetary balance
The Club will present a budget for the 2021/22 season with 765 million euros of income before the members’ representatives, 21% higher than last season. The increase comes mainly due to the recovery of income from the Stadium thanks to the reopening of the Club’s facilities, and particularly matches at Camp Nou, where a progressive return to full capacity is planned. The other area contributing the increase is Commercial due to the reopening of shops.
With regards to running costs, the Club predicts a reduction of the figure of 784 million with a significant reduction to the sporting wage bill (-31%), mainly due to the departures of players with high salaries, as well as modifications to other wage conditions that allow the current wage bill to adapt to the Club’s current capacity to generate income within the current COVID-19 context. The rest of the costs see increases due to the additional costs of reopening of facilities and the costs associated with match days.
The Club predicts an end to the financial year with a loss of 19 million euros in costs that is compensated by a net financial position of 23 million euros. These projections give a result of 5 million euros in positive.
Appearance on 6 October
On 6 October, the Club's general director, Ferran Reverter, will make a public appearance to present the results of the Due Diligence reports and to detail the financial results from last season and the budget for the current financial year.