| First thing to say are that these results are a glimpse of history - how Rangers performed financially as well as on the football field last season. |
They tell the story we all knew about anyway; no European football (and fewer games in general) cost us last season - about £24m. This was offset by a near £9m reduction in costs, partly due to lower incentives paid to players - but not surprisingly the underlying wage bill was up. This followed the buying spree after the Kaunas debacle.
Debt is up at £31.1m, broadly in line with expectations, and it is stated that this gives the club £8.9m headroom within existing facilities. Basically they're saying we have facilities in place for £40m of debt and that statement was signed off by the Directors today. The only cloud is that the Revolving Credit Facility of £15m which extends until December 2010 has its annual review next month.
Given the banks sanctioned the loan of Rothen - evidence in itself that they don't know how to run a football club - we have to assume that the plan going forward keeps us within this limit. That will include Champions League money, the lower wage bill, the smaller squad and the transfer receipts coming in. If there has been any slippage on this plan, then it could have been disappointing gates at the CL matches.
But reading the press and listening to Walter Smith you'd think all was lost. Perhaps we'll find out more at the AGM on 7th December, when our Chairman (for three months by then) will "personally deliver an address on the current financial status of the Club, the activities in which the Board have been actively involved during this period, and a prognosis as to the challenges that will be encountered as the Directors and the Senior Management Team attempt to navigate Rangers Football Club during these very challenging times."
I'm not sure what I or others expected from these results, but the debt is in line with expectations and within current limits, but we should never forget that June 30th is close to the low point for the year - the season ticket money is in the bank, and there is a full year of wages to be paid before the next big chunk comes in. Transfer receipts and Champions League money make a bit of a difference, but debt as a rule rises throughout the year.
As I say in the title, these results give the background and detail behind what we knew (or thought we did); they don't really take us any further forward.
Brock Stoker |
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