On the cusp, very close to it- Stewart Robertson confirms the financial miracle as RIFC move towards self sustaining
Stewart Robertson told shareholders in The Rangers International Football Club how they are ‘very close to being there’ in terms of being financially sustainable.
Critically no date was given as losses of £23.5m on a turnover of £47.5m was glossed over with four batches of new shares issued already this season to repay loans.
It seems that a few token questions were asked about the financing of the club, since July 2020 Kemar Roofe and John Lundstram have been added to the wage bill with both players believed to be earning at least £40,000 per week.
??Rangers ‘close’ to being financially sustainable
??There is no need to sell any players
??The £7.5m gap in annual accounts has been filledRangers managing director Stewart Robertson gives an update on the club’s finances during today’s AGM?
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) November 30, 2021
Everyone can be confident about the financial future of the club. Last season we talked about the four pillars of the club which are seasonal revenue from season tickets and hospitality which is fantastic as without that support, particularly last year with Covid, it was invaluable.
Then there’s the commercial revenues which is growing. We also have European income and we’re Rangers and we should be regularly getting to the group stage and beyond in European football. That’s what we budget on and that’s been fantastic.
It’s helped the Scottish co-efficient and we’re now looking at the possibility of the winners of the league this term qualifying automatically for the Champions League. The coefficient has gone from 26 to 11 at the end of last season and it’s currently nine.
That makes a big difference to the finances of the club. We need to be financially sustainable and running the club within a budget and not dipping into investors’ pockets – but we’re very close to being there.
None of the above explains how losses of almost £2m a month are stemmed and turned into a profit.
Five European ties before Christmas will have raised income that wasn’t there last year but there are also costs involved in staging matches such as policing and stewarding. Hospitality will be clear profit compared to last season but it takes a lot of pies to produce a £2m/month turnaround.