6th Feb 2015 17:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Football club Celtic PLC Friday posted a significant drop in pretax profit for the first half of the year, due to the loss of TV and association revenue through playing in the Europa League rather than Europe's top club competition, UEFA Champions League.
The club posted a pretax profit of only GBP6.6 million for the six months to end-December, compared with a GBP21.3 million profit the year before, as revenue fell by more than 30% to GBP31.3 million, from GBP44.8 million the prior year.
"A key factor influencing these results is the participation in the UEFA Europa League, as opposed to the UEFA Champions League," the company said in a statement.
"This trading performance, together with a lower gain on disposal of player registrations of GBP7.1 million from GBP16.5 million in 2013 are the main causes of the reduction in profit before tax," it added.
The club said it held net cash of GBP5.3 million at the end of December, only slightly lower than the year before, which it said was "pleasing" given the capital investment in projects including the Celtic Way.
"Our key focus for the remainder of the year will be to build on the progress we have made in the first half of the season and to deliver silverware from competing in the three domestic competitions and remain competitive in the UEFA Europa League," said Chairman Ian Bankier.
"Furthermore, we will continue to develop our squad for the challenges of qualifying for European competition in the summer," he added.
Celtic shares closed 2.3% lower Friday at 74.25 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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