Chelsea Announce First-Ever Profit Under Abramovich Ownership

Chelsea FC plc today announced a profit of £1.4 million for the first time in Roman Abramovich tenure as owner of the Premier League club.

The figures, for the year ending 30th June 2012, showed a record group turnover of £255.7 million, making Chelsea the fifth largest club in Europe in terms of revenue.

This follows the club winning the UEFA Champions League for the first time and the FA Cup for the fourth time in six years – in what was an historic 12 months both on and off the pitch. 

The £1.4m profit contrasts with a loss of £67.7m in the previous financial year and puts the club in a strong position to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play criteria for the coming seasons. In order to compete in European competitions, these require clubs over a fixed period to achieve a break-even figure when expenditure is measured against the income from football-related activities.

The increase in revenues to £255.7m from the previous year’s level of £222.3m was in the main due to on-field success, especially in the Champions League. In addition, significant profits (£28.8m) were made in the transfer market. The club also enjoyed an uplift in revenues from commercial activities including new partners and merchandising.

The club also negotiated a deal with BSkyB to acquire its interest in Chelsea Digital Media Ltd (the holder of certain Chelsea media rights). This deal allows the club to have full control of our digital media strategy.

Intergroup debt of £166.6m was capitalised into equity during the course of the year strengthening the balance sheet and making Chelsea FC plc debt free.

The revenue recorded in the latest results follows improved figures the previous two years.

The main figures for the year ended 30 June 2012 were:

· Group turnover was up from £222.3m to £255.7m

· Profit for the financial year was £1.4m compared to a loss of £67.7m.

Chief Executive Ron Gourlay said: “Our club philosophy is built on success. We had that success on the field this year, as we were the first London team to win the UEFA Champions League, and we enjoyed it off the field as well and this helps us inject financial investment into the team.

“The big challenge is always to have a successful team on the field that wins trophies and to make a profit at the same time. The objectives have been set across the whole business, from the Academy to Under-21s and all the way through to the first team.”

Chairman Bruce Buck added: “We will never forget that night in Munich and now we are celebrating serious progress off the field too.

‘While we draw huge satisfaction from the achievements of the past 12 months we are more than ever focused on continuing the story of on-field success supported by improving financial performance off the pitch.”