Financial results - Shareholder and Stadium update
Wed 02 April 2014, 07:00|Tottenham Hotspur
New 5-year shirt sponsorship deal
Non-Core Properties Divested
Phase 1 Stadium Development Financed to Completion
£40m Capital Investment
Financial Highlights
Revenue for the year ended 30 June 2013 was £147.4m, an increase of 2% on the prior year (2012: £144.2m).
Profit from operations excluding football trading and before depreciation was £23.4m (2012: £23.0m) for the year ended 30 June 2013. Looking back over the past five years this measure of cash generated from operations has averaged over £25m per annum. Profit for the year after interest and tax was £1.5m (2012: loss £4.3m).
Premier League gate receipts rose by 4% to £22.2m (2012: £21.4m) while gate receipts and prize money from the domestic cup competitions and the UEFA Europa League were 14% higher at £11.3m (2012: £9.9m).
Revenues continued to increase on the commercial front with Sponsorship and Corporate Hospitality revenues increasing by 6% and Merchandising revenues increasing by 5%.
We were delighted to be able to announce, subsequent to this period, a record new shirt partnership with one of the world’s leading insurance companies, AIA, for the next 5 years. AIA is the largest independent, publicly listed Pan-Asian life insurance group and we now have the opportunity to further extend our fan base in the Asian and Oceania continents.
The Club continues to comply with the Financial Fair Play regulations and supported the adoption of similar financial regulations by the Premier League in February 2013.
Stadium and Associated Development Update (Northumberland Development Project “NDP”)
The Club has undertaken a review of its property holdings in order to determine the essential core properties required to deliver the new stadium, with non-core properties, that are excess to requirements, being sold and the proceeds used to pay down debt secured against those properties.
As a result, Phase 1 of the NDP and a number of properties to the west of the High Road have been divested, at arm's length, to a Group company, TH Property Limited a subsidiary of ENIC International (‘’ENIC’’), the Company’s principal shareholder. This has been agreed through a process of independent valuations that has been approved by the Club’s independent Non-Executive Directors.
ENIC has subsequently financed the Phase 1 development through to completion which includes the Supermarket, commercial space and incorporates the northern access podium for the stadium development.
By transferring these non-core sites, the Club continues to be able to determine the development and the nature and setting of the immediate environs around the new stadium, particularly given that Phase 1 will be linked to the stadium podium, whilst additionally securing space in the Phase 1 building for the Club’s staff and project team ahead of the start of construction of the stadium.
In respect of the next stage of the new stadium process, a Public Inquiry was held in April 2013 relating to the last remaining property to be acquired so that we can move forward with completing land assembly and we currently await the Secretary of State’s decision on the Compulsory Purchase Order (‘’CPO’’). During the delay in land acquisition, we have continued to progress the stadium finance plans with advice from N M Rothschild.
It is a major development that will present ongoing challenges and subject to these challenges being manageable we anticipate going out to tender for construction late this year which will make a stadium opening date of Summer 2017 feasible.
We welcome the ongoing commitment from, and continue to work closely with, National Government, the Greater London Authority and Haringey Council, to deliver regeneration and make Tottenham a better place to live, work, study, play and visit – a vision supported in the newly adopted Tottenham Strategic Regeneration Framework.
Fundraising
In addition to acquiring the non-core properties and financing the Phase 1 build, ENIC has supported the Club by way of an interest free, unsecured loan of £40m. This loan will be converted, subject to shareholder approval, into non-voting preference share capital. A circular will be dispatched to shareholders in due course.
The sale of the properties has extinguished the Club's property borrowing which had accumulated over the last decade - a decade which has seen the club acquire over 18 acres of land, successfully relocate 72 businesses, with the majority staying in the area, and invest in excess of £100m in the stadium project.
The finance has ensured that, throughout the CPO process, the ongoing costs of design development, pre-construction works and the costs associated with the CPO itself, have not affected the progress of this project.
Importantly, this support leaves the Club in a position where it currently has negligible net debt and has financing for the material ongoing costs of taking the stadium project to the next stage. It has always been important that the daily operations and football side of the Club remain unaffected and that the Club has the stability to enable the Board to move the project forward with confidence.
Chairman, Daniel Levy, commented,
"Our financial position is key to ensuring we can continue to thrive both on and off the pitch and we have taken the necessary, prudent steps to ensure that we are in a secure financial position as we move forward.
“At the time of this announcement, we are in sixth position in the Premier League and it has been another season when the top four places have been fiercely contested by at least seven teams. It is no surprise that the English Premier League is the most watched League in the world as every season the fight for a top four UEFA Champions League place becomes more competitive.
“We have come far in the last decade - we have raised our expectations from a Club aiming to be in the top half of the table, to competing in Europe each season - to the point at which we find ourselves disappointed if we don't make Champions League.
“This season we have had to make significant changes, both in respect of coaching and playing staff and yet we are currently only two points less than last season’s tally. Whilst this season’s performances and results have not lived up to expectation, we believe our squad has potential and it is important that we all now show commitment and teamwork to get the best possible finish to the season.
“We have fantastic, strong support. Our current 36,000 seater stadium sells out and the waiting list for season ticket holders is currently in excess of 47,000. We cannot stress strongly enough how critical the new stadium is over the long-term to these raised expectations. We have the smallest capacity stadium of any club in the top 20 clubs in Europe, let alone the current top four Premier League clubs, and given we now operate within UEFA Financial Fair Play rules, an increased capacity stadium and associated revenues is fundamental to supporting the future ambitions and consistent achievement at the top of the game.
“Our focus therefore is to continue to invest in and develop the squad - we shall not look to a summer of major upheaval, but rather to strengthen in key positions - to play the style of football for which we are famous - and to deliver the new stadium.
“The new stadium is a landmark project, of importance not just for our Club , but to the regeneration of an area which has been our home for more than 132 years and to London as a whole. It will be a key regenerative component of the local economy and a significant tourist attraction in its own right.
“To anyone visiting Tottenham today, our commitment to delivering the new stadium project and associated regeneration is clear for all to see - Phase 1 is built, the Club-sponsored Tottenham University Technical College is due to open this Summer, 447 jobs have been delivered to date and some 9 acres have been cleared in readiness for the stadium development. We eagerly await the outcome of the CPO decision by the Department of Communities and Local Government.
“We are optimistic for the long-term future and believe our efforts will make this great Club even greater over time. Our supporters are our life-blood and we shall ensure that they are our most important stakeholder as we move forward."