Loss £830K

[KenH]

Accounts for 14/15 season now public viewing on the Co House website. Loss of £830K

Turnover down from £2.5m to £2.3m - a drop of £200k in revenue.

Wages UP by over £200k, players, mgmt, football related staff UP from 51 to 60.

Directors have paid in over £300k in new shares and over £400k in new loans to keep it afloat.

Remember when someone on here said they'd heard the loss was going to be up towards £900k and they were rubbished and shot down! Seems they were right!

Just shows what a mess the club is in financially. Considering the 15/16 season just ended saw reduced crowds and all those cancelled games, not to mention even few cup matches, the loss could be even higher. It also explains why none of the Redshaw money was made available to Jim - it was needed to keep the club from going under.

No wonder PMG wants to sell, but it does beg the question as to whether anyone will really want to buy it when it's losing so much money. PMG will want a fair amount to pay back what he's put in, as will the other directors. Then the new owner would also need to pour in money to cover the losses, and then pour in even more to improve the ground and pour in even more to increase Jim's budget. It doesn't make business sense, so it really must be someone rich who wants a club as a hobby.

[George Dawes]

PMG should hand it over, and do the honourable thing.

PMG with the move did take a big gamble with the last minute 3rd tier sponsors boxes at the expense of decent facilities and match day experience of regular fans, and as a result driven large numbers away.

although PMG meant well, it must have crossed his mind that if he took a gamble and it back fired there would be consequences.

[halftimeresults]

So i was right about the loss but was shot down by Shrimps voices.

[SupermarketShrimp]

Yet people want us to spend yet more money.

How on earth we've managed to lose that much I will never ever know.

Let's say the playing budget is a million quid, even on fag packet maths 1500 @ 15 * 23 is half a million before any other of the revenue streams come in like the tv cash etc.

It sounds a lot like clearing the decks and getting all the debt in the open before a sale is done or worse artificially raising the loss to ensure a payout in the event of a sale

[Gone_Shrimping]

The Stategic Report on the first page says current indications are that the year ended 31 May 2016 will show a much reduced loss. Bearing in mind we are a couple of days from that year end it is to be hoped that this will turn out to be accurate.

[SupermarketShrimp]

The Stategic Report on the first page says current indications are that the year ended 31 May 2016 will show a much reduced loss. Bearing in mind we are a couple of days form that year end this will turn out to be accurate.

That would make more sense. Big loss followed by small loss suggesting club on track to break even.

[mrpotatohead]

There is a bigger picture here that will all become apparent in tne first week of June, these losses are not OUR, losses anyway ,they are PMG's losses.

[BerlinWaller]

That is a surprise, it only took 6 replies before we got a "i know something you don't know" post!

[mrpotatohead]

Well if something is put up for discussion 'borin'waller'' what is wrong with contributing, I am merely repeating something that was said at the last fans/ directors meeting, if you can't keep up to speed or bother to attend butt out

[halftimeresults]

Well if something is put up for discussion 'borin'waller'' what is wrong with contributing, I am merely repeating something that was said at the last fans/ directors meeting, if you can't keep up to speed or bother to attend butt out

What is the point of these fan meetings.how do you get the questions from The real fans?
How do you report the minutes of the meeting?

[KenH]

The Stategic Report on the first page says current indications are that the year ended 31 May 2016 will show a much reduced loss. Bearing in mind we are a couple of days from that year end it is to be hoped that this will turn out to be accurate.

However, the auditors aren't so sure - they've not given a "clean" audit report - they've included an "emphasis of matter" highlighting the risk of the going concern basis used is not being appropriate. They wouldn't have done that if they'd seen evidence that things were looking up.

Anyway, given the crap season with low attendances, no cup run, cancelled games, etc., I fail to see how things could have been any better for 15/16 compared with 14/15.

[BerlinWaller]

How many organistations do the club need? Stop trying to be a clever dick and drip feed us info that you get from Director friends. If you Celebrity fans made the minutes public rather than trying to score points off one another, we would all be on the same page.

[KenH]

There is a bigger picture here that will all become apparent in tne first week of June, these losses are not OUR, losses anyway ,they are PMG's losses.

Well, no. The CLUB has bank loans and overdrafts, it owes suppliers, it owes the other directors for their loans, so it's not just money owing to PMG. Even if PMG gives his shares away for zilch, the Club's bank loans, creditors and other director loans are still there and need servicing/repaying.

Unless, of course, you are insinuating that they're planning to put it into liquidation to wipe out all it's debts and then start it again from scratch - i.e. phoenixism? Or some kind of creditor's voluntary arrangement asking for everyone to agree to write off some/all of their debts so the company can carry on without the debts hanging around it's neck.

[Morecambe Jack]

Wages UP by over £200k, players, mgmt, football related staff UP from 51 to 60.

Hi Trevor, how's your ever decreasing budget argument stacking up?

[mrpotatohead]

The meeetings are informal, and an attempt to improve things between supporters and the club, fcom know about them and anyone is welcome , as for ''imparting info off my director friend'', he doesn't tell me a great deal unless its not private info, whats the harm in telling people on here?

none so I will carry on doing it.

[BerlinWaller]

Lets just hope its factual stuff rather than the normal guff you put on here. Is he still laughing about the £900k loss?

[mrpotatohead]

Are you savvy when it comes to selling a business?

I suspect not, the club never embarked on any huge spending last year, this ''tidying up'' of the accounts will give new owners a fresh start.

[Christies Child]

I'd prefer to see what the current financial state is rather than those that are history...,after all any prospective buyer will be more interested in what the position is today and what he will be taking on.

And Mrs is right about the tidying up of the accounts.....

[outsider]

Well if something is put up for discussion 'borin'waller'' what is wrong with contributing, I am merely repeating something that was said at the last fans/ directors meeting, if you can't keep up to speed or bother to attend butt out

? was it? I don't recall this being said.

[Gone_Shrimping]

The Stategic Report on the first page says current indications are that the year ended 31 May 2016 will show a much reduced loss. Bearing in mind we are a couple of days from that year end it is to be hoped that this will turn out to be accurate.

However, the auditors aren't so sure - they've not given a "clean" audit report - they've included an "emphasis of matter" highlighting the risk of the going concern basis used is not being appropriate. They wouldn't have done that if they'd seen evidence that things were looking up.

Anyway, given the crap season with low attendances, no cup run, cancelled games, etc., I fail to see how things could have been any better for 15/16 compared with 14/15.

I've been in auditing for 30 odd years including some years at one of the UK's largest accounting firms and this is a standard auditors report on any business where reliance is on the continuing support of the directors.

I would not expect these results to affect any possible sale of the club as anyone considering investing will have done "due diligence" and if the position is much better for the year ending 31 May 2016 they will be aware of that.

[KenH]

Looking at the accounts in great detail, I'd say there's little sign of any window-dressing to make them look worse prior to a sale. I'd say it's more bluff from a board member, just like the time a board member laughed at the suggestion of a £900k loss.

The cash flow statement shows real money leeching out of the club, necessitating £311k of new shares issued and £395k of new loans borrowed by the club. That's £706k of money that has had to be paid in to cover the losses. That's real, not some accounting trick.

There are no exceptional items (usual place for window dressing), no unusual depreciation, stock or other provisions. Most types of debtor and creditor are comparable from year to year, suggesting nothing unusual this year. The only item of note is that accruals have increased from £199k to £266k, which may indeed suggest that an extra £67k or so of expenses have been provided for in the year.

So, maybe rather than a "window dressed" loss of £830k, the real loss was ONLY £763k. Wow, that makes a real difference doesn't it!!

I think, on balance, the board are trying to bluff and bluster and try to pretend things aren't as bad as they are. That does no-one any good. It's just living in denial. Any buyer will do due diligence.

[KenH]

I've been in auditing for 30 odd years including some years at one of the UK's largest accounting firms and this is a standard auditors report on any business where reliance is on the continuing support of the directors.

I would not expect these results to affect any possible sale of the club as anyone considering investing will have done "due diligence" and if the position is much better for the year ending 31 May 2016 they will be aware of that.

So have I! 35 years and counting.

It's not automatic at all, especially with more recent changes to audit report formats. It may have been standard wording back in the 80's but things have changed in modern times. It's never been mentioned in previous auditor's reports for MFC, despite average half million losses each year, so there's clearly been a worsening of their opinion this last year.

[RedRedWine]

It's more bunker mentality! Since theses financial results have been published our crowds have dipped 20%. Ok, some of this is offset by the sale of Redshaw.... But all I see happening at the club is more and more bodies being brought in to generate less commercial revenue and in turn making the club more distant from the supporters.

CC and MPH are in denial, and the director who chairs these SADARSE meetings clearly does not know what is going on at the club when we are told by MPH (who isn't doing the credibility of the director any good to the fans who read this messageboard) he dismissed suggestions that the club has lost £900k yet a few months later statuary losses of £830k are published.

[RedRedWine]

The Stategic Report on the first page says current indications are that the year ended 31 May 2016 will show a much reduced loss. Bearing in mind we are a couple of days from that year end it is to be hoped that this will turn out to be accurate.

However, the auditors aren't so sure - they've not given a "clean" audit report - they've included an "emphasis of matter" highlighting the risk of the going concern basis used is not being appropriate. They wouldn't have done that if they'd seen evidence that things were looking up.

Anyway, given the crap season with low attendances, no cup run, cancelled games, etc., I fail to see how things could have been any better for 15/16 compared with 14/15.

I've been in auditing for 30 odd years including some years at one of the UK's largest accounting firms and this is a standard auditors report on any business where reliance is on the continuing support of the directors.

I would not expect these results to affect any possible sale of the club as anyone considering investing will have done "due diligence" and if the position is much better for the year ending 31 May 2016 they will be aware of that.

You've been an auditor for 30+ years but don't know why companies move their filling dates by a day?

Speaking as an accountant I am unsure why the financial year should have been adjusted by just 1 day.

[Trevor]

Wages UP by over £200k, players, mgmt, football related staff UP from 51 to 60.

Hi Trevor, how's your ever decreasing budget argument stacking up?

Player budget?