Today, the ordinary assembly of FC Barcelona will be held electronically starting at 10:30 a.m. At this meeting, two important points on the agenda will be put to a vote. Firstly, the closing of the 2023-24 financial year, which presents losses of 91 million euros despite the fact that the board also emphasizes that the ordinary result is positive at 12 million. Secondly, the delegates will evaluate the budget for the 2024-25 season which, if met, will yield net benefits of five million euros.
The focus will be placed above all on the closing of the financial year and on the explanations that the club has given to justify the 91 million losses. According to the board, this negative figure is a consequence of the non-payment of the 141 million that were not collected in the sale of Barça Vision, the commercial name of the subsidiary Bridgeburg Invest SL, to the German company Libero. For this reason, the Barça entity has had no choice but to make provisions for non-compliance with the aforementioned fund.
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Barcelona has been carrying pending accounts with this lever since 2022, when precisely the assembly approved the sale of 49 percent of Barça Vision. According to the auditor KPMG, this business area based on digital assets such as NFTs or the metaverse had a value of 408 million. LaLiga approved these numbers and Barça sold Orpheus Media, Jaume Roures’ company, and Socios.com 24.5% of Barça Vision to each company for 200 million. Only 10 of each partner joined, and one year after the agreement was fulfilled, they indicated that they could not assume said participation.
Barcelona found in Vestigia, a Cypriot fund that contributed 20 million, and in Libero the partners who were supposed to cover the remaining 180 million. But the Germans did not honor the agreement. This summer, Aramark became a shareholder, contributing 25 million. 15 to cover Libero’s non-payments and another 10 million to be returned to Orpheus Media. In total, of the 200 million that it had to earn for that asset, the club only obtained about 55 million.
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This data has caused Grant Thornton, the auditor in charge of reviewing the accounts this year, to consider that the losses for the year should be greater than 91 million. The audit warns that the business plan has not been met and that, therefore, “the valuation” of 408 million should not be maintained. He justifies his decision by the non-compliance with the IPO, the repeated non-payments of the members found by the club and the failed business plan. “In addition, the club has not provided a new assessment considering these facts,” he adds. And he concludes: “For all these reasons, we consider that there are clear signs of deterioration that we have not been able to objectively quantify.”
The board maintains the value of Barça Vision at 408 million, and the auditor warns that it must be reduced
The opinion expressed by the Blaugrana board is that as long as there are partners willing to invest, as is the case with Aramark, Barça Vision will continue to have a value of 408 million. And they trust that new investors will enter the business before December.
91 million losses and 12 million ordinary positive results
At the end of the year there were losses of 91 million euros. According to the board, this negative figure is a consequence of the non-payment of the 141 million that were not collected in the sale of Barça Vision, a company valued at 408 million euros. The ordinary result is positive at 12 million due to the 81 million in transfers of footballers.
Beyond Barça Vision, the club insists that the ordinary result of 12 million, the result of the management of the entity in the last year and which includes the balance between the club’s expenses and income, is the positive note of this year . This account has included the departures of Dembélé, Kessié, Nico, Abde, Chadi Riad and Marc Guiu for a value of 81 million. The board justifies that the world of football has changed and that player sales must be normalized as part of ordinary management. It’s not something new. Bartomeu’s board already counted the income from transfers within the ordinary year.
Looking ahead to next year, the entity has budgeted 22 million euros in transfers that have already been carried out. They are those of the sales of Julián Araújo, to Bournemouth for 10 million, and of Mika Faye, to Rennes for 10.3 million. The club also points out that, within this ordinary management, it has achieved a reduction of 170 million euros in sports wage bill, which has gone from 676 million to 505 million.
Contemplates an income of 154 million with the return to the Camp Nou
Revenue will be 893 million euros, that is, one less than last season. On the other hand, expenses will amount to 873 million euros. If these accounts are fulfilled, five million net benefits will be generated. With the return to the Spotify Camp Nou with 60% of the capacity, the club predicts income of 154 million.
This reduction once again places the club within the ratios recommended by UEFA. A salary bill based on a contract model with sporting merits related to the titles that they intend to maintain this year. Even so, they already contemplate that the salaries of young people like Lamine Yamal or Pau Cubarsí will be revised upwards.
The entity has achieved a reduction of 170 million in its sports salary bill, now standing at 505 million
On the sidelines is the net debt of 560 million, not counting the financing of Espai Barça (1,450 million) by Goldman Sachs. The board considers that the return to the Spotify Camp Nou will solve many of the entity’s economic problems, which will earn 350 million a year when the work is complete in 2026. As the reopening will take place with 60% of the capacity, the forecast of income in that phase is 154 million.
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