HIBERNIAN recorded a loss last year for the first time in seven years, largely as a result of a lack of transfer income.
Figures released recently for the year ended July 31, 2011 show the Edinburgh club made a loss of £900,000 before tax – down £1m from the previous figure – despite selling Anthony Stokes to Celtic for around £1.2m in August 2010. The previous year Hibs had received net transfer income of £2.3m.
Turnover also fell marginally from £7.1m to £7m, attributed in part to the lower attendances associated with Hibs finishing last season in the bottom half of the table, as well as being knocked out of the Europa League, the League Cup, and the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle. Net debt increased by £1.8m to £5.9m, partly due to the loss recorded that year and partly as a result of loan payments due following the construction of the new East Stand.
The directors, however, remained positive about the future. "The club is in a strong financial position," read a statement. "The infrastructure assets of Easter Road and the Hibernian Training Centre are funded by retained earnings and long-term structured debt. Performances on the field of play have a direct impact on the club's finances, and changes were made during the year and after the end of the season to improve the club's prospects."
Easter Road was valued last year at £18.5m, on the basis of depreciated replacement cost, while the training facility was valued at £5,450,000 on the same basis.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article