'Fundamentally not the case' - Hearts finance director answers question over club profit and benefactors role

Hearts finance director Jacqui Duncan said it is “fundamentally not the case” the club would post a loss if it wasn’t for benefactors and donations, stating the club budget for this additional income.

The Jam Tarts benefit via the Foundation of Hearts donations and benefactors like James Anderson who is now on the club’s board. In the latest accounts, those amounted to £5.985million. In next year's accounts it is budgeted to drop to £5.8million.

There have been questions raised by outside observers regarding the club making an operational profit of £3million, noting if it wasn’t for those donations the club would post a loss. Those questions were answered by Duncan as she addressed shareholders at the club’s 116th AGM.

“I wanted to highlight in the context of our costs, we would not have done all of the things I’ve mentioned to the same extent had we not received the donation monies,” she said. “I will be honest to say that I am tired of hearing and reading that if we stripped out our donation income we would be reporting a loss. This is fundamentally not the case. We budget to spend in accordance with our means and we would not make the investments that we do without the knowledge of having this additional income. We give our thanks once again to our benefactors and the Foundation of Hearts for their continued support. And along with your support this has enabled us to move forward very positively during difficult times.”

Duncan also revealed the extent the club have progressed off the field, going from net assets of just over £1million in 2014 to £24million in 2022.