FC Barcelona is getting back on track thanks to asset sales and financial maneuvering.
A year ago, the Spanish soccer team was suffering big financial losses and was considered technically bankrupt.
On Thursday, announcing its results for the year ending June 2022, Barça reported a profit of $111 million on revenue of $1.15 billion (average exchange rate for the fiscal year: 1 euro = $1.128 U.S. dollars). Even without the sale of 10% of its men’s team’s La Liga matches, which added $300 million to the top line, revenue would have been $846 million, which would have surpassed the previous year by $134 million.
The team got a post-Covid boost with a $148 million (or 415%) increase in revenue from its stadium and other facilities, such as tickets and concessions, back to pre-pandemic levels.
The balance sheet also improved. The team borrowed roughly $1.5 billion from Goldman Sachs to extend its debt maturities from short term to long term and also help finance the redevelopment of its stadium, Camp Nou. Net debt (debt less cash) fell to $686 million in 2022 from $769 million the prior year. FC Barcelona noteholders agreed to relax some debt terms, granting a measure of relief to the Spanish soccer giant as it grapples with a collapse in revenues caused by the pandemic. The team has a negative net worth of $351 million versus $451 million a year ago.
For the 2022-23 fiscal year, Barcelona expects revenue to be $1.26 billion and profit of $274 million (based on current exchange rates), thanks to the sale of another 15% of its television rights for $400 million and the sale of 24.5% of its company Barça Studios to Socios, which brought in another $100 million.
Even without these one-time sales, the team believes its revenue would increase by $105 million thanks to an increase in proceeds from sponsorships, like Spotify.
There is still work to be done, but Barcelona is headed in the right direction. Forbes valued Barcelona at $5.1 billion in May, second among soccer teams to Real Mardrid.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2022/10/06/fc-barcelona-posts-111-million-profit-for-2022/