Dundee United: Player sales to continue despite £3.9m profit
The profit for the year ending June 2015 is a record for the Tannadice club and was a £2.7 million rise on the previous 12 months.
It was largely made on the sales of key players, including Stuart Armstrong, Andy Robertson and Ryan Gauld.
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Hide AdHowever, it has come at a price. United failed to adequately replace those players, despite chairman Stephen Thompson’s insistence the club have the league’s third highest budget, leaving them a massive 11 points adrift at the bottom of the table.
While the business model has not worked in terms of on the park success, United stressed it is there only option for the immediate future after racking up operating losses of £799,000 over the year.
A statement on United’s website read: “This represents the largest profit since the foundation of the football club in 1909 and also the fifth time the club has reported a profit in the last six years. These figures continue the significant improvement when compared to the previous 12 years, a period when the Club recorded only one profitable year.
“The profit for 2015 was underpinned by a four per cent increase in revenues to £5.82m, reflecting positive on field performance with the club securing a top six finish for the eighth consecutive year and a second consecutive domestic cup final.
“Successful player trading enabled the club to reduce its net debt, which stood at £7.3m in 2007, to £1.28m in a further step in the club’s strategy to reduce net debt.
“It is noted that the club continues to spend more than it generates in income. The operating loss for the year was £799k and only successful player trading can sustain such losses.
“Much work continues to be done on identifying and implementing reductions in operating expenses and the value of this work should be reflected in forthcoming results.”
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