West Ham have published their financial records for the year ended May 31st 2017 and on the whole, it makes for great reading for fans, the owners and all those emotionally or financially invested in the club.
For the fourth year in a row, West Ham have recorded their highest income which totalled £183.3m which headlines a hugely profitable year for the Hammers following their 11th place finish in 2016/17. Other notable financial figures include:
- Broadcast revenue increased by £32.6m, up to £119.3m courtesy of the new TV broadcasting deal
- Ticket income grew by 6.3% from £26.9m to £28.6m
- Retail and shop sales grew by 2% from £9.3m to £9.6m
- Commercial and sponsorship including corporate hospitality sales were up by 35.7% from £19m to £25.8m
- The club confirmed the Boleyn Ground was sold for £38m, resulting in a £8.7m profit
- A total of £28.4m profit was made on the sale of players
- Wage expenditure has risen by £10.4m to £95m, meaning wages account for 51.8% of turnover
West Ham go on to note that they recorded a pre-tax and interest profit of £48.5m but illustrate that in all likelihood that figure would be similar if they had remained at the Boleyn Ground as it’s largely as a result of the new TV broadcasting deal and player sales profit.
Twitter: This is an astonishing line from the accounts and will rankle hugely. “It is worth noting the club would have made… https://t.co/ILxnqlNMFQ (@Sam_InkersoleTM)
This particular tidbit doesn’t fall in line with some of the promises the ownership made when they boldly claimed that the move to a new 60,000-seater stadium would help the club rake in more money and take them to the next level. That’s not to say that in the years to come it won’t do that, as these financial records show promising growth.
Records state that gains made on the sale of the Boleyn Ground have been offset by the cost of moving to the London Stadium, but the one-off usage fee of £15m is payable over the duration of the 99-year lease West Ham have on the stadium.
In regards to any loans and debt the club had, those have also been cleared up in the financial records.
External bank loans totalling £14.7m to shareholders CB Holding ehf and GC Co 102 Limited were confirmed to have been fully repaid with 5% interest on July 15th, 2016, resulting in West Ham being externally debt free of long-term non-share holder loans.
On July 14th, 2017, a £30m loan from Media Rights and Funding which was taken out against their TV broadcasting revenue in past years to help with cash flow was fully repaid. Two similar loans with a combined worth of £25m were taken out with the same company for similar reasons are due to be repaid in July 2018.
In August 2016, David Gold and David Sullivan were repaid £4.2m of loans made to the club, plus £2.2m interest, therefore reducing the shareholder loan balance from £49.2m to £45m.
Shareholder Tripp Smith paid a £9.5m interest-free loan to West Ham in September 2017 after buying 10% of the shares from CB Holding ehf, and was named a director of the club in the process.
