Daniel Levy - Chairman

[DeanoAustin]

Jenas on 5Live this evening suggesting that we are in a pretty serious place re.finances.

Do we have much less money coming in then we would during a summer? I'd be amazed if we are anywhere close to trouble although it's not inconceivable the longer this goes on.

Unless he outlines what he actually knows, I'm sceptical.

 

[Finney Is Back]

How would he know?

Sounds like usual punditry when if you say enough things one of them will end up being true.

I imagine we are similar to most football clubs. The stadium was not built with the expectation of champs league football.

So Levy said before we’d broke ground.... however 4 consecutive years of CL and still ending up with £657 million of debt probably says otherwise....

I think it’s pretty obvious the stadium went a huge amount over the original intended budget.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Do we have much less money coming in then we would during a summer? I'd be amazed if we are anywhere close to trouble although it's not inconceivable the longer this goes on.

Unless he outlines what he actually knows, I'm sceptical.

Yes as our business model had us hosting a number of events over the summer.

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Do we have much less money coming in then we would during a summer? I'd be amazed if we are anywhere close to trouble although it's not inconceivable the longer this goes on.

Unless he outlines what he actually knows, I'm sceptical.

Well there would usually be next season’s ST revenue starting to roll in now. That’s not happening and it’s difficult to know when it will, seeing as that can’t happen until a) what happens with this season is decided; and b) it is known when next season will start and when fans will be allowed back in the stadium. So that’s a definite drop from what would normally be banked over the summer. (Add to that the likelihood of having to give refunds or credit against this season’s STs, including corporate, so harder to forecast what funds might be available).
There’s been no match day revenue since beginning of March, so another gap for the summer coffers.

Plus of course all the non-footballing events planned for the summer which will be a huge loss.

I’d say there’s more than a fair bit less than planned. Whether it’s a critical amount less, who knows - I’m sensing it might well be.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Our wage bill is now higher (I think it’s about £16m a month).
Our income is now lower (and that’s ignoring loss of income from covid).
We now have far higher obligations due to installments on our significant transfer fees paid over the last 2 windows.
We also probably paid a large chunk of cash to sack Poch and his coaching team.
We have £25m PA interest payments.
We MAY not receive the last installment of our broadcast revenue this season.

This period hurts us more than any other club in the league....

1. We have the largest match day income (that we no longer get)
2. We have the largest debt in the league (so the highest interest payments).
3. We had more non football events planned than any other club, all no longer taking place (so another big chunk of planned revenue missing).

I think our £120 million cash in bank (that probably already dwindled to around £80m) won’t cover that difference.

Most clubs will now borrow large sums to keep them going. We already have £657 million of debt.

Time for our very wealthy owners to get their wallets out and make an equity injection (or inject some via diluting their holding). Anyone see that happening?.... No me neither!

 

[MKSpur]

Comrade Corbyn and his merry bunch of thieves seem to think that people earning over £80K are rich. Everyone will draw the line in a different place, so best not draw it at all.

That’s a week right?

 

[Baleforce]

Our wage bill is now higher (I think it’s about £16m a month).
Our income is now lower (and that’s ignoring loss of income from covid).
We now have far higher obligations due to installments on our significant transfer fees paid over the last 2 windows.
We also probably paid a large chunk of cash to sack Poch and his coaching team.
We have £25m PA interest payments.
We MAY not receive the last installment of our broadcast revenue this season.

This period hurts us more than any other club in the league....

1. We have the largest match day income (that we no longer get)
2. We have the largest debt in the league (so the highest interest payments).
3. We had more non football events planned than any other club, all no longer taking place (so another big chunk of planned revenue missing).

I think our £120 million cash in bank (that probably already dwindled to around £80m) won’t cover that difference.

Most clubs will now borrow large sums to keep them going. We already have £657 million of debt.

Time for our very wealthy owners to get their wallets out and make an equity injection (or inject some via diluting their holding). Anyone see that happening?.... No me neither!

It's in the interest of the banks we owe that £657m to that we come out the other side ready to start paying it off.

 

[Finney Is Back]

It's in the interest of the banks we owe that £657m to that we come out the other side ready to start paying it off.

So they lend us more at a higher rate of interest? Great!

 

[Mikey10]

Do we have much less money coming in then we would during a summer? I'd be amazed if we are anywhere close to trouble although it's not inconceivable the longer this goes on.

Unless he outlines what he actually knows, I'm sceptical.

Yes as our business model had us hosting a number of events over the summer.

AJ fight, Guns’n’Roses and Lady GaGa gigs, Capital Summertime Ball, as well as all the lost revenue from the last few home games.

With late summer events now beginning to be parked (e.g. Edinburgh Festival) you begin to think it’s increasingly likely next season will kick off behind closed doors...if it gets going at all.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Yes as our business model had us hosting a number of events over the summer.

Well there would usually be next season’s ST revenue starting to roll in now. That’s not happening and it’s difficult to know when it will, seeing as that can’t happen until a) what happens with this season is decided; and b) it is known when next season will start and when fans will be allowed back in the stadium. So that’s a definite drop from what would normally be banked over the summer. (Add to that the likelihood of having to give refunds or credit against this season’s STs, including corporate, so harder to forecast what funds might be available).
There’s been no match day revenue since beginning of March, so another gap for the summer coffers.

Plus of course all the non-footballing events planned for the summer which will be a huge loss.

I’d say there’s more than a fair bit less than planned. Whether it’s a critical amount less, who knows - I’m sensing it might well be.

Fair points but as I see it, the big differentiator between us and most other clubs is that we are carrying stadium debt obligations that other clubs aren't. How much are our repayments each month?

Partially offsetting that compared to the other big clubs, we have the lowest wages so won't be on the hook for as much as them in terms of what we have to pay the players.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Our wage bill is now higher (I think it’s about £16m a month).
Our income is now lower (and that’s ignoring loss of income from covid).
We now have far higher obligations due to installments on our significant transfer fees paid over the last 2 windows.
We also probably paid a large chunk of cash to sack Poch and his coaching team.
We have £25m PA interest payments.
We MAY not receive the last installment of our broadcast revenue this season.

This period hurts us more than any other club in the league....

1. We have the largest match day income (that we no longer get)
2. We have the largest debt in the league (so the highest interest payments).
3. We had more non football events planned than any other club, all no longer taking place (so another big chunk of planned revenue missing).

I think our £120 million cash in bank (that probably already dwindled to around £80m) won’t cover that difference.

Most clubs will now borrow large sums to keep them going. We already have £657 million of debt.

Time for our very wealthy owners to get their wallets out and make an equity injection (or inject some via diluting their holding). Anyone see that happening?.... No me neither!

Forget revenue and lost revenue for a minute. Every club has seen their revenue streams pretty much obliterated unless I'm missing something.

Then it comes down to expenditure and how much money clubs have to cover that expenditure. Is our expenditure much higher than other clubs? The stadium costs are obviously something we have that others don't. How much are they?

On the flip side our wages are lower than the club's we are competing with.

So our ability to borrow may be less than most clubs but as another posted rightly says, it's not in anyone's interest that we go to the wall particularly the banks we owe money to.

Levy is fiscally very cautious. I haven't seen the latest accounts but id be amazed if we aren't able to withstand this for a similar period to other clubs. By the time we become seriously exposed, I think most clubs will be in the same boat as us and there is no way dozens of high profile football clubs will be allowed to go bust when they are so important to the community and they are viable businesses undone by a freak event.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Well, well, well now that purest of pure institutions, Liverpool, they of "you'll never walk alone", "it means more" and "we're a family" fame have just followed the example of big bad Levy.

It's almost as if "you'll never walk alone" is just a marketing slogan and football clubs are businesses who have to face an economic reality here.

 

[stratnumberone]

Wonder if Liverpool will have its name dragged through the mud for days by various media outlets.

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

Well, well, well now that purest of pure institutions, Liverpool, they of "you'll never walk alone", "it means more" and "we're a family" fame have just followed the example of big bad Levy.

It's almost as if "you'll never walk alone" is just a marketing slogan and football clubs are businesses who have to face an economic reality here.

I’ve heard they have no money, spent it all on VVD, Fabinho, etc to get the league and the virus is the perfect storm.....

can’t give anymore details than that though.

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Well, well, well now that purest of pure institutions, Liverpool, they of "you'll never walk alone", "it means more" and "we're a family" fame have just followed the example of big bad Levy.

It's almost as if "you'll never walk alone" is just a marketing slogan and football clubs are businesses who have to face an economic reality here.

But Liverpool are topping up the 20%, we're not. They are furloughing staff, but not making pay cuts, it would seem.

 

[parklane1]

Well, well, well now that purest of pure institutions, Liverpool, they of "you'll never walk alone", "it means more" and "we're a family" fame have just followed the example of big bad Levy.

It's almost as if "you'll never walk alone" is just a marketing slogan and football clubs are businesses who have to face an economic reality here.

i wonder if some of their fans will be foaming at the mouth like a few of ours on here were when we did it.

 

[spitshine]

 

[Modric THFC]

Do we have much less money coming in then we would during a summer? I'd be amazed if we are anywhere close to trouble although it's not inconceivable the longer this goes on.

Unless he outlines what he actually knows, I'm sceptical.

The club (sorry I should say company) yesterday announced it was making a payment of £1m to the NHS and £6.25m to the EFL as part of the the Premier League payments.

They can't cry poverty and do this.

The company furloughed 200 staff. Assuming they are all full time hours on the living wage it would cost the company 326k a month to pay them 100%.

The payments they have now been forced to make to generate good PR are millions more than they are saving furloughing their lowest paid staff.

 

[markysimmo]

Wonder if Liverpool will have its name dragged through the mud for days by various media outlets.

No chance

 

[Baleforce]

i wonder if some of their fans will be foaming at the mouth like a few of ours on here were when we did it.

rabies?