The Betis board approves the accounts with the favorable vote of 69.2 percent of the shares

The capital increase of 42.9 million was essential to achieve a positive rating from the rating agencies (BBB) ​​with the demonstration to investors that the entity’s own shareholders are betting on the club. The increase in personnel expenses from 94 to 106 million is worrying at the club. And the rise in financial expenses when the club restructured its loans with Pricoa and Shamrock, which exceeded 90 million euros, to the new relationship with Goldman Sachs for 125. And the fact is that Expenses for previous agreements and their cancellations go from seven to 11.7 million. The interest and bullet rate conditions of the agreement with Goldman Sachs were explained.

The current cost of the squad is around 106 million. It is compared to ordinary income, which is 143 million. That puts the club at a ratio of 74 percent. This ratio must be between 50 and 75 and makes the club think about lowering this magnitude and it is announced that they will work on it. The club is concerned about the increase in personnel expenses from 94 to 106 million euros, motivated because during the pandemic many important salaries were renegotiated with agreements to defer and postpone them but now the club has to assume higher costs in some relationships.

In the net amount of the turnover The club has gone from earning 74 million in 2018 from television, tickets and commercials to 138 currentlyrising through subscriptions to 20.6 million but with a decrease from 68.1 million to 71.4 in broadcasts. For European competitions Betis has gone from earning 21.1 million in the Europa League to 15.7 million last year after falling and moving to the Conference. Regarding the transfer of players, there was a relevant figure of 45.4 million euros.

The asset goes from 193 million to 281. With a non-current increase of 20 million thanks to the sports city and the cost of the squad. Current assets are set at 69 million. With the refinancing of the debt, carried out at the end of the season, it is reflected that There is cash on hand of almost 60 million.Liabilities also grow but negative net worth, still in the red, goes from -73 to -39 million. The club’s share capital, it should be remembered, was expanded from 7 to 14 million, doubled in the increase but taking into account that most of the income is from share premium. If it is valued corrected by the CVC funds (which contribute 63 million that are valued as equity) it is located at 23.4 million. Working capital is positive for the first time in many years and almost no First Division club operates with magnitudes like that, and in Betis it is ten million euros, when last year it was -65 and the year before, -107. Ebitda goes from 32 to 39.7 million and working capital has a positive variation.

The net income ratio is 70 percent. Debt is relative to income. There is a significant debt but income has also grown and what is established by LaLiga is comfortably met. The audit report eliminates an uncertainty that appeared in previous reports regarding business continuity, something valued from a technical point of view.

The budget for the 2024-25 campaign is adjusted to 144 million euros without sales and with them it is estimated that it will be, like the previous year, around 180 million euros. Betis has included in this budget 15 million euros for a theoretical participation in the semifinals of the Conference. If you do not reach this round you will have to readjust your economic forecast affecting future seasons. It is thus situated in this very advanced stage, having the approval of LaLiga.

Shareholder interventions

Several shareholders intervened at this point on the agenda. The first was Juan Riscarta classic in Betic meetings, which exhausted its turn to speak. He pointed out that “you have to make a good block, because Pellegrini is doing too much with the squad we haveto be able to reach fifth or fourth. With the coach we have and with the youth team we can go one step further. “We have to build a good team and they are doing a great job but you can’t have so many injured players, there is a lack of quality.” Fernando Gamero He asked several questions since he pointed out that in other operating expenses he saw that there are 22.6 million of external services of the 17.6 million that do not have a breakdown. “They are significant expenses for explanations to be given and to know what they correspond to,” he asked. «In non-sports personnel expenses there is an increase of four million but the number of people drops from 162 to 146 in that chapter. And with the marketing and commercial income we are talking about almost 30 million euros and Betis as a brand must have a much higher goal. I know it’s not easy but Atlético almost triples ours. We must aspire for it to be much more. The website can be improved and policies can be carried out so that the Betis brand, which is known worldwide, can carry it out. We have to look for income from wherever and we have a great debt in this chapter. And there is also talk of errors of 2.9 million and it is a very high figure for that. Pagola responded that six million are billed for LaLiga television rights and in non-sports personnel expenses there is an accounting reclassification of women’s and futsal personnel expenses that penalizes LaLiga’s limits. He also defended that the store model implies more income but also more expenses after passing the club under his management.

Pepe Tirado He also spoke to point out that “these days before the meeting have been strange because in other years we have been looking for actions until the end to win votes that meant the change of the entity and this year it was not necessary. Those of us who were minorities are micro-minorities and are no longer influential, but we are not idiots. This is a capital company and we knew it could be like that. The club needed this expansion that has been made. We have found out about the share map thanks to the press. Whoever has put up the money has the greatest representation. Regarding the Betis team, we never considered that it was owned. “It was a movement to once and for all get rid of people from the club who for years believed that the club was theirs and that they managed it fraudulently and illegally.” I answered him Lopez Catalan «With great affection to all the great Betis who have fought in the previous era so that Betis is managed as it is now, among Betis, with honesty, professionalism and with the strategic plan that you built in PNB. If we are all here and we have this meeting, it is thanks to this entire process. We have tried to avoid the capital increase. We didn’t want to. We were looking for every opportunity to avoid this loop but we had slow progress and it has been four years in a row in Europe with a significant effort. We talked about the losses of Covid-19 and it has led us to expansion. We have moved to include as many subscribers as possible. We have all made an effort, not just those of us at the table, without any intention of hoarding shares. It already happened in 2017 that we could have bought up to 50 and we didn’t want to do it. Our intention is none other than to continue with our dream of making Betis great and I ask that you already know us, we have been around for ten years and we are not going to change by having the 1, 10 or 19 now. We are going to respond with the same humility. And we encourage us to be united. And that will take us to the highest possible level.”

Diego Garcia Leonfor its part, considered that “the accounts will be approved without problems but For small shareholders and ordinary members, what worries us is that we see a lack of liquidity on a day-to-day basis. of the entity. The treasury is high, but the Betic player collaborates with the club with everything, but for example the seats that are sold on loan are not received and the first matches were from August and this year the VAT and a proportional part are removed. Are there liquidity problems? Pagola defended on this issue that the delay is a computer operation but has nothing to do with liquidity.

Mariano Galan He addressed Haro: «Chapó to the management and congratulations are that the club has always been on the rise in these years. You have had the courage to have the club where we all want it. “I give him the greatest congratulations for keeping you since he began his candidacy.” Jose Manuel Bernalfrom the Peña Bética of Alcalá del Río, stated that “I always talked about the capital increase to solve the asset imbalance, It is the best way to finance yourself and in a few years we will have another one, for sure.. Ebitda has gone from 29.6 to 39.7, which is highly positive. We have also lowered current liabilities and it is appreciated.”

Rafael García Gordillo He was speaking to say that «for those numbers to add up, the first thing is for the sports part to do so. With Luis Medina Cantalejo at the head of the CTA it will be impossible to go far, since he is the one who pulls the strings of everything.The referees whistle for his bosses and they know that he is a self-confessed Sevilla fan. And the same for the subsidiary. The arbitrations we have are regrettable. As long as this cancer is not eliminated, we are going to have a very bad time. You have to name it. “The fear is over.”

Tomas Millan He used his turn to “congratulate Councilor Pagola for the change of tone in the club’s financial situation. I think we have to continue taking steps and beyond the increase in financial costs there is an issue that worries me, which is the stadium. I don’t see any point regarding this issue and I would like to ask how it is going to be financed. It has been said that with CVC funds and also later with a loan from Goldman Sachs, the cost of the work and what financial impact it will have. And as for the balance sheet, we cannot continue giving zero results to grow. Let’s not confuse bravery with recklessness and good luck because yours will be ours. Advisor Pagola acknowledged that the financing will be shared between CVC funds and investment funds, which will probably be from Goldman Sachs as well. “The cost is not determined because we are analyzing in detail with external companies and our marketing departments what income we are going to have with the new stadium and based on that we can do more or less,” he concluded at this point.