Hibs have announced their yearly financial statement, and a third year in the Championship has had an impact.
The Hibees have announced a loss of £270,000.
Chairman Rod Petrie has released the following statement on the official club website and posted to shareholders:
Dear Shareholders,
Season 2016-17 will be remembered as a promotion winning season. The old First Division Championship Trophy was presented to the Club at Easter Road Stadium on Saturday 6 May 2017. For a brief period there were two of Scotland’s senior professional trophies in the building.
A return to the top flight of Scottish football had been the single objective for the Season. Looking back, a winning margin of 11 points looks comfortable. It did not feel that way at times. But once we hit the top of the table for a third time after the turn of the year we held that position to the end. Special thanks to everyone who contributed to success – from the supporters who followed the team in great numbers home and away, to supporters who bought tickets knowing they could not get to all the matches, to the coaching staff, players and support staff both at the Hibernian Training Centre and at Easter Road Stadium. It was a great effort which brought everyone together to achieve success.
The other key sporting moments came from the defence of the Scottish Cup with two successive trips to Tynecastle, to play first Bonnyrigg Rose and then Heart of Midlothian. The win against Ayr United ensured the defence of the Scottish Cup took us back to Hampden for the semi-final tie against Aberdeen. Sporting success on the pitch, backed by attendances at home matches, leads to satisfactory financial results. We have said before that your Board took the decision to maintain the structure and staffing of the Club as a Premiership outfit in the Championship. This includes continuing to invest in the players of the future through the Hibernian Academy. We said too that, having made that decision, it was impossible to break even in the Championship without major sporting success. Six trips to Hampden for major cup semi-finals and finals in three years and a Europa League tie all helped. As did the Scottish Cup win on 21 May 2016.
Record attendances at Easter Road Stadium allied with another Scottish Cup semi-final tie and player trading at the end of the Season resulted in a loss for the financial year of £277k, some way short of our financial target which is to at least break even.
Turnover at £7.7m was the highest level since 2012-13, when Turnover reached £8.0m.
Staff costs were £4.5m or 59% of Turnover in the year ended 30 June 2017. Staff costs in the 11 months ended 30 June 2016 were £3.8m or 54% of Turnover. The comparative figure for staff costs equates to £4.1m on a pro rata basis for a 12 month period, which would be equivalent to 59% of Turnover for that period.
Net Assets at 30 June 2017 were £19.4m, down slightly from the previous year as new shares issued during the year reduced the impact of the loss. Net Asset Value per share at 30 June 2017 was 20.7p. A special thank you goes to all those who have subscribed for shares in the Club in the last three years to help fund the Club’s sporting ambitions.
The nominal share capital at 30 June 2017 was £1,875,000 meaning that there are almost 94m shares in issue compared to 60m shares at 31 July 2014, an increase of 57%. The Club now has some 2,400 shareholders who together own 34% of the shares. Included within those numbers is Hibernian Supporters Limited, which owns 11% of the shares in the Club.
Importantly, cash balances at 30 June 2017 stood at £3.5m, an increase of £1m over the year. In large measure that was down to the level of Season Ticket renewals for Season 2017-18 prior to the year end. Thank you to the 13,000 Season Ticket Holders who now have one of the 16,000 seats at Easter Road Stadium available for home supporters eclipsing the previous record level set in 2007.
Given the winning 2016-17 Season, there was probably more activity in the summer transfer window than many had anticipated. The departure of our top scorer early in the window was balanced by the welcome return of some familiar faces. And it was the deals that were not done – by rejecting a number of offers for players – which gives us hope that Season 2017-18 can build on the success of last Season as Head Coach Neil Lennon embarks on his second season with the Club, supported by Head of Football Operations, George Craig and our Chief Executive, Leeann Dempster.
During the year the second election took place to appoint fans representative directors. Frank Dougan was elected to serve a second two-year term and he was joined by Tracey Smith. We welcomed Frank and Tracey on to the Board of Directors and, at the same time, thanked Amit Moudgil for his contribution during his two years on the Board. Thanks too goes to our four other non-executive directors and to the executive team.
The sporting and financial results for last Season can be viewed with satisfaction. But this is also a time to look forward – and to look forward with confidence and anticipation. The Board has done all that it can to match the efforts of supporters and deliver a competitive budget for this Season. The skills of our recruitment and player identification department have been harnessed to identify talent, both externally and from within. In conjunction with the Head Coach a talented squad of players has been assembled for Season 2017-18.
The early signs are encouraging with another trip to Hampden already this Season. We all look to the team to excite and succeed as the Club strives to achieve the ambitions which we all share for our Hibernian Football Club.
Yours sincerely,
R M Petrie
Chairman
Not the best results, but it could have been worse after a third season in the Championship.
Tell us what you think of this news on our forum HERE