In stark contrast to city rivals, Celtic announce ‘very encouraging’ results of reduced debt and small profit

PETER Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, has stressed that his club can exist in isolation to Rangers. Yesterday’s events, however, served only to strengthen the impression that the two clubs’ fortunes seem forever destined to be associated with one another.

As Rangers fans were left reeling from the news that administration is now almost certain to befall their club, Celtic announced interim financial results which were described as “very encouraging” by Lawwell.

Celtic reduced their bank debt by £2million during the second half of last year. The club also made a pre-tax profit of about £180,000 while cutting the debt to just over £7million. Celtic’s Europa League adventure, which Lawwell admitted was “unorthodox” after Sion’s expulsion from the group stage, helped increase turnover by almost £1million.

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When one side of the Old Firm is up, the other is down. Rarely, however, has the other been in quite such a distressed position as Rangers were placed in yesterday. Perhaps the most fitting recent comparison is with Celtic’s grim situation in 1994, when the Parkhead club were just hours from liquidation. The Scots-Canadian tycoon Fergus McCann stepped in to avert the crisis situation, setting in motion the club’s rehabilitation. This recovery also helped encourage Rangers to up their spending and led the Ibrox club down a road leading to financial ruin.

At the same time as these papers were being prepared at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lawwell and Ian Bankier, the recently appointed chairman, were receiving a procession of reporters at Parkhead. Time and time again the board members went over the same set of interim results, gamely resisting any urge to rub the details in the face of their great rivals. Even though news had yet to break of Rangers’ plans, it was difficult to avoid setting the publication of these results in the context of the Ibrox club’s financial travails. For a start, the very fact they were published at all was worth noting, since Rangers’ most recent financial accounts, posted on 30 November, were unaudited, and meant the club’s shares were suspended.

Though unintended, nearly every comment made by Lawwell and Bankier seemed to carry a loaded meaning. Lawwell highlighted the club’s decision to be more financially prudent.

“Four to five years ago we spoke about where we were,” he said. “The big players like [John] Hartson and [Chris] Sutton we knew we could no longer afford. We looked at it and thought we needed to change the model. We needed a self-sustaining model. We invested a bit of money in our academy at Lennoxtown, finding and developing uncut diamonds but keeping the quality and value of the squad up.”

“We are beginning to see the green shoots of that strategy with regards to the squad we have built,” added Lawwell, who noted that the average age of the team who defeated Rangers in December was just 22 and a half.

The club’s debt of £7.05, which is down from £9m, could be erased with the sale of one, possibly two of the club’s current stars. James Forrest is among the most highly prized members of the squad. The 20 year old is a product of the club’s youth policy. The 24 year old striker Gary Hooper, bought for a fee of £2.4 million from Scunthorpe United, could also see Celtic make a profit should the club decided his sale is the best option.

A conscious decision was made to hold on to players during the most recent registration window, while Pawel Brozek and Rabiu Ibrahim arrived to strengthen the squad. “Every window we want to come out stronger than we went in,” said Lawwell. The chief executive stressed that, despite the need to be prudent, the club’s ambitions have not been restricted.

In his chairman’s statement, Bankier notes that the “strength and depth of the player pool now available to the football manager is better that is has been for several seasons”. Even without the anticipated ten-point penalty imposed on Rangers, this comment ratchets up the pressure on Neil Lennon. Following last season’s failure, there is no excuse for failing to land the title this time. Lawwell believes Lennon is already aware of what is expected.

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“Every we set out the title is the No 1 priority,” he said. “He knows that, we know that.”

Lawwell denied Lennon’s position was ever under threat, even earlier in the season when Celtic lay 15 points adrift of Rangers. At half-time of a game against Kilmarnock in October, Celtic were 3-0 down. Lennon later admitted he felt his future was in jeopardy. “We always believed in him,” said Lawwell. “We had a lot of injuries at the time and there were international breaks, so momentum was allowed to build. But we still believed in him.”

The club did have concerns about some aspects of Lennon’s behaviour, specifically on the touchline. “He has tempered that [his behaviour]”, said Lawwell. “That is to his credit. He has done that himself. He is now developing into a really great and rounded manager.”

• Turnover: up 3% to £29.3m

Operating expenses: up 3.3% to £28.4m

Profits from trading: down from £920,000 to £880,000

Profit on disposal of intangible assets: down from £13.2m to £3.15m

Profit before taxation: down from £7.1m to £180,000

Period end bank debt: down from £9.1m to £7.1m

Investment in football personnel: down from £9m to £4.44m