CELTIC has posted lower profits and lower revenues but says it has a “stable platform” for success on and off the pitch.
Club chairman Ian Bankier yesterday praised a “satisfactory” financial performance which saw the Parkhead club remain firmly in the black.
The Celtic PLC group revenue dropped nearly 18% to just over £83.4m while pre-tax profits fell to £11.3m from £17.3m the year before.
The accounts, which run for a year through June 2019, also showed the club made £17.7m selling players and spent £6.2m buying them. The year before its acquisitions and sales had balanced at around £16.5m.
Mr Bankier said: “The financial results for the year demonstrate the robustness of the Group’s strategy of investment in football operations, whilst maintaining a self-sustaining financial model.
“This continues to provide a stable platform for football success and shareholder value. The gains on sales of player registrations, primarily reflected by the gains achieved on the sales of Moussa Dembele to Olympique Lyonnais and Erik Sviatchenko to FC Midtjylland, as well as contingent fees crystallising on previous player transfers, were key to the performance of the Group.”
READ MORE: Kieran Tierney wears boots with Celtic tribute on Arsenal debut
The figures do not include the sale of Kieran Tierney to Arsenal for a Club record fee. Mr Bankier said: “This was a great milestone achievement for ‘one of our own’ and recognition for the Club’s high standards of player development.”
The chairman also cited potential legal actions against the club after a child abuse scandal at Celtic Boys Club. He said: “During the year, a number of individuals were found guilty of historic offences committed against young people. The Club expressed its sincere sympathy, regret and sorrow for those affected and stands by its responsibilities, respecting the due process of law.”
Mr Bankier concluded: “As we look ahead, the future of UEFA competitions beyond 2024 remains uncertain. While recognising the risks, the club considers that the developments being discussed by UEFA, the European Club Association and other stakeholders, present an opportunity to clubs such as Celtic.
“Through Peter Lawwell’s continued involvement on the Board of the European Club Association and the Professional Football Strategy Council, the club and the game in Scotland continue to be well represented in this very important arena.”
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel