An overview of the latest set of club accounts, which covered the 2023/24 football financial year
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Everton Football Club matchday test event at Everton Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. Photo by Colin Lane
Everton Football Club matchday test event at Everton Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. Photo by Colin Lane
(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Everton have announced losses of £53.2m in the latest club accounts. The period covers the 12 months leading to July 2024 and represents an improvement on the £89.1m loss reported in the previous year.
While the club’s net debt has risen by more than £200m the latest accounts show increased confidence in the future of the Blues following the takeover by The Friedkin Group - completed after the year in question but extensively referenced in the final report.
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The new accounts will be the final set of results for a complete year under former owner Farhad Moshiri and offer insight into the state of the club heading into the final months of his reign. They also provide a picture of the situation inherited by TFG following its takeover, which was completed in December.
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The documents paint a picture of a club battling to improve its financial outlook across a turbulent period on and off the pitch. During the year in question the Blues were the subject of takeover uncertainty and were twice hit with points deductions for breaching Premier League spending regulations across the previous two financial years.
As such, 2023/24 became a fight to ensure compliance with those Profit and Sustainability Regulations. Success was achieved on that front, as acknowledged by the Premier League’s confirmation the club would not face a new case back in January.
Precisely how close Everton came to a third breach is not clear - PSR calculations are not fully reflective of the headline accounting figures - but the club was sufficiently concerned to move in the final days of the reporting period, selling Ben Godfrey and Lewis Dobbin in a late effort to boost their outlook before the deadline.
While the club avoided a new PSR breach, the latest figures represent the seventh consecutive year of losses. Over the past three years alone that figure now stands at around £186m.
Other headline figures in the new accounts include a £14.7m increase in turnover to £186.9m and a reduction in the wage to turnover ratio from 89% to 81%, once the outsourcing of retail and catering services is factored in.
During the period in question the club’s net debt position increased to £567.3m from a previous figure of just over £300m. The club said this figure reflected “investment in the squad, stadium development, and operational costs”.
Significant financial changes have unfolded in the nine months since this reporting period concluded, however.
The takeover by TFG has led to the club’s finances being restructured, with the interest-free loan of around £450m provided through the Moshiri-linked Bluesky Capital Limited being converted into equity and the stadium debt being refinanced. Such moves were crucial - the conversion of Moshiri’s loans to help towards future PSR compliance, and the debt consolidation moving the club away from reliance on loans with cripplingly high interest rates.
Of significant note is the conclusion that, with the support of TFG, the accounts conclude there is “a reasonable expectation that the group will have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future”. Last year, with questions around the financial outlook of the club there was considered to be “a material uncertainty about Everton’s ability to operate as a going concern”, at least in the event of relegation.
Upon the release of the accounts, Everton’s interim CEO Colin Chong said: “Since the accounting period ended, the takeover process has resulted in a significant strengthening of our financial platform—something that is not reflected in these figures but has already made a major impact on our long-term stability.
“Despite the challenges we have faced in recent years, and during the accounting period covered by these accounts, the hard work of everyone across the club—on and off the pitch—has ensured we have continued to move forward. That is particularly true of the progress on Everton Stadium, a project that was maintained at pace. The commitment to delivering our new home, while continuing to navigate a complex financial landscape, has been exceptional.
“With new ownership, a world-class stadium opening at the start of the 2025/26 season, and a clear plan for ongoing sustainability, we can approach the next chapter of our club’s future with confidence.”