News: Rotherham United post loss for COVID-hit season
Rotherham United has posted its latest financial results that covered the team's relegation season from The Championship.
The Millers posted a loss of £705,928 for the year ending June 30 2021, mainly due to being unable to sell season tickets and have any fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Losses were £1.2m in 2020 and a profit before tax of £2.74m was recorded for 2019.
Accounts filed with Companies House show that turnover was £12.1m, up from the previous season (when the team earned promotion from League One) which was £9.6m, but down from the £14m for 18/19 - the last time the team played in second tier (before the pandemic).
Chairman Tony Stewart OBE (pictured), founder of successful Rotherham firm, ASD Lighting, saved the Millers in 2008 when he brought the then League Two club out of administration via a Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA). Rotherham United Football Club (RUFC) Ltd is wholly owned by ASD Lightings Holdings Ltd, which is owned by the Stewart family.
In March 2020, ASD Lighting Holdings Ltd took up a £2m share issue in the football club which helped to cover a reduction in match day revenue and reduced funding from the League. The club also took out an interest free loan guaranteed by the Premier League to help deal with the impact of COVID.
Loan repayments to the EFL due to be repayed in a year totalled £477,066. The long term loan from the Football League, at £1.9m, is repayable in equal installments with the final repayment due in 2025.
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Central distributions via the Football League went up to £7.9m for being in The Championship, up from £2.7m when in League One.
No income was recieved from season ticket sales in the period. This was £2.5m for 2019. The club launched an alternative to ticket refunds called "United Rotherham" and provided the opportunity for ticket holders to "rollover" funds for when fans could return. Season ticket sales for this season in League One were again back over 6,000 as COVID restrictions eased.
Income also came from televised matches (£690,000), and merchandising income was boosted by fans tuning in online to the iFollow service during lockdown.
The directors used the accounts to thank staff, fans and sponsors for "working hard and offering support throughout these difficult times."
At £2.3m, sponsorship only dropped 4%. The club boosted digital opportunities for sponsors and continued to recieve £1m in sponsorship from Stewart's ASD Lighting plc. The accounts also show that the football club again paid £1m to RU Estates Ltd, another Stewart familty company that was set up to build the AESSEAL New York Stadium.
The club's wage bill totalled £8.2m, one of the lowest in the league. Other Championship clubs have wage bills over £50m and many clubs spend much more on wages than they bring in as they risk it all to reach The Premier League.
Directors conclude that, although the club now has significant net liabilties (namely the EFL loans), cash flow forecasts have been prepared for the next three years that show that "the company can continue to trade as a going concern but it must continue to rely upon the support of sponsors, in particular its fellow subsidiary company, ASD Lighting plc, to enable it to do so."
Rotherham United website
Images: RUFC
The Millers posted a loss of £705,928 for the year ending June 30 2021, mainly due to being unable to sell season tickets and have any fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Losses were £1.2m in 2020 and a profit before tax of £2.74m was recorded for 2019.
Accounts filed with Companies House show that turnover was £12.1m, up from the previous season (when the team earned promotion from League One) which was £9.6m, but down from the £14m for 18/19 - the last time the team played in second tier (before the pandemic).
Chairman Tony Stewart OBE (pictured), founder of successful Rotherham firm, ASD Lighting, saved the Millers in 2008 when he brought the then League Two club out of administration via a Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA). Rotherham United Football Club (RUFC) Ltd is wholly owned by ASD Lightings Holdings Ltd, which is owned by the Stewart family.
In March 2020, ASD Lighting Holdings Ltd took up a £2m share issue in the football club which helped to cover a reduction in match day revenue and reduced funding from the League. The club also took out an interest free loan guaranteed by the Premier League to help deal with the impact of COVID.
Loan repayments to the EFL due to be repayed in a year totalled £477,066. The long term loan from the Football League, at £1.9m, is repayable in equal installments with the final repayment due in 2025.
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Central distributions via the Football League went up to £7.9m for being in The Championship, up from £2.7m when in League One.
No income was recieved from season ticket sales in the period. This was £2.5m for 2019. The club launched an alternative to ticket refunds called "United Rotherham" and provided the opportunity for ticket holders to "rollover" funds for when fans could return. Season ticket sales for this season in League One were again back over 6,000 as COVID restrictions eased.
Income also came from televised matches (£690,000), and merchandising income was boosted by fans tuning in online to the iFollow service during lockdown.
The directors used the accounts to thank staff, fans and sponsors for "working hard and offering support throughout these difficult times."
At £2.3m, sponsorship only dropped 4%. The club boosted digital opportunities for sponsors and continued to recieve £1m in sponsorship from Stewart's ASD Lighting plc. The accounts also show that the football club again paid £1m to RU Estates Ltd, another Stewart familty company that was set up to build the AESSEAL New York Stadium.
The club's wage bill totalled £8.2m, one of the lowest in the league. Other Championship clubs have wage bills over £50m and many clubs spend much more on wages than they bring in as they risk it all to reach The Premier League.
Directors conclude that, although the club now has significant net liabilties (namely the EFL loans), cash flow forecasts have been prepared for the next three years that show that "the company can continue to trade as a going concern but it must continue to rely upon the support of sponsors, in particular its fellow subsidiary company, ASD Lighting plc, to enable it to do so."
Rotherham United website
Images: RUFC
1 comments:
So has t'Millers paid back the shedloadza dosh from the Dark Dismal Dysfunctional Stone Age? Just asking for a Ratepayer Friend 🤪🤪🤪👿👿👿
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