AFC Bournemouth released their accounts for the 2024/25 season on Saturday, recording a £14.9million pre-tax profit, after they filed a £66.3m loss the year before.
The club made an operating profit of £28.3m and made a £91m profit on player sales, with a net transfer income of £20m.
Analysis from Cherries fan Rob Webber, who has a background in business as a chief executive and has been analysing the club’s accounts for a number of years, showed Bournemouth in a good position.
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The club’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, has been positive for the past three years, which is a good sign.
Its cash end position of £47.2m, up £40m from the year previous, is also a good indicator of sound finances.
Bill Foley. (Image: Richard Crease)
Webber, known as @afcb_r0b on X, explained to the Daily Echo that there were three standout points that contributed to their strong commercial position.
The first was around player trading, with £124m in player sales and £104m in player purchases, resulting in that player sales profit of £91m.
The club’s player investment and sales has stabilised, with Black Knight FC, the company that owns the Cherries, stating the club has transitioned from a “net buyer” to a more balanced approached.
A company presentation document states the aim of becoming a “net seller”, as reported.
The second was the increase of commercial income, which rose by 45 per cent to £26.9m, with an impressive rise in advertising and sponsorship revenue to £18.1m, up from £12.1m.
Chairman Bill Foley arrives for the opening. (Image: Richard Crease)
This reflects the club’s drive in this area, around the likes of hospitality income, which continued to rise, too, with 40 per cent of matchday revenue coming from hospitality, which makes up just six per cent of seats.
The final aspect was around the Vitality Stadium, with attendances continuing to rise.
The average attendance for league games was above 99 per cent, and the average attendance for cup matches is approaching 97 per cent.
Webber indicates that stadium productivity, which is the matchday turnover (ticketing plus hospitality and events) divided by stadium capacity, is up 17 per cent to £1,009 per seat.
This means the Cherries are one of few clubs outside the biggest sides to have this number at above £1k.
An aerial view of the Vitality Stadium, home of AFC Bournemouth. (Image: PA)
This is encouraging for the club as they look to expand the ground and moves into the era of squad-cost ratio regulations, but it remains to be seen how the club can grow this at its current stage, without European qualification.
Although commercially a positive, there has also been a rise in cost per fan, with spectator productivity (matchday turnover plus VAT, divided by total reported attendance) increasing to £48.14.
This is across all games hosted at Dean Court, including women’s games and development squad matches, and includes VAT, which the club does not benefit from but the supporter pays.
While the club cleared the PSR regulations, Webber expects it to be tight for the club to meet the incoming SCR regulations, which the Cherries voted against implementing.
But, another year of good player trading, which has come in the past year, will certainly help towards meeting those regulations.
Chairman Bill Foley arrives for the opening. (Image: Richard Crease)
Bournemouth have also complied with UEFA’s annex G according to the accounts, which, while a separate calculation to SCR, is an encouraging sign.
Another positive from the accounts was that the club now has no shareholder debt, with the previous debt converted to shares.
There is still reliance on shareholder investment, but that will likely ease, particularly with the move to a more balanced approach in terms of player transfers, as mentioned.
But all in all, the Cherries are in a good spot financially and they have positioned themselves well for the challenge of the SCR regulations.