Portsmouth post £4m losses as financial impact of coronavirus becomes clear

Although the Blues remain debt free with £1.01m in the bank, thanks to ongoing financial assistance from owners Tornante.

Accounts today filed at Companies House for the year ending June 30, 2021, reveal the full impact of Covid on the Blues’ finances.

Having registered a £259,950 profit in 2019-20, latest figures show losses of £3,860,477m for the financial year.

Although an injection of £6m from Tornante helped fund the losses and enable continued renovation work at Fratton Park, together with the purchase of Roko.

Turnover fell from £11.28m to £7.38m during a Covid-impacted period in which 25 matches took place at Fratton Park behind-closed-doors.

As a consequence, there was a loss of match-day income of around £6.5m, taking into account ticketing and hospitality.

Supporters were allowed into just two Fratton Park matches in 2020-21, with both capped at crowds of 2,000.

Overall, ticket sales dropped by more than £5.2m, totalling £144,935, while income from sponsors and partners fell to £712,589.

Meanwhile, hospitality income during a year of Covid restrictions slumped to £58,643, substantially lower than the £999,011 posted for the previous year.

However, Pompey’s finances received a £1.82m boost following the introduction of Premier League grants to aid Football League clubs during Covid.

When totalled with the standard Football League Basic Award, it represents £4.1m of their £7.38m turnover, demonstrating the lifeline such grants offered.

Elsewhere, other football-related income, consisting in part of Papa John’s Trophy revenue, rose from £399,882 to £749,091, while broadcasting-related income, including iFollow subscriptions, reached £1.37m, up from £984,327.

The accounts also reflect the June 2021 acquisition of their Copnor Road training ground and gym for £3m, having previously leased the pitch area from Roko.

Meanwhile, Tornante dipped into the final £4m of the £10m share capital confirmed at the time of their August 2017 purchase of Pompey.

The Blues’ owners also put in an extra £2m, taking the total to £6m invested into the club in the financial year.

On November 17, 2021, Tornante converted the additional payments into £5m of new equity, thereby ensuring no loans are against the club.

This reflected the additional £2m previously detailed – plus another £3m injected after the financial year ended on June 30, 2021.

The extra £3m in the current financial year, which will appear in next year’s accounts, kicks off the start of the ongoing four-phase Fratton Park redevelopment programme.

The £11.5m project is scheduled to be completed over the next two seasons.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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