Thursday, May 05, 2011

Liverpool Reveal £20m Losses In Last Year Of Hicks & Gillett Reign

Liverpool has revealed that the club sustained £20 million losses in the financial year between August 2009 and July 2010, during the reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The co-owners were widely disliked on Merseyside for false promises over a new stadium, while being blamed for the poor financial stability of the club prior to the takeover of Fenway Sports Group (FSG).

According to the Liverpool Echo, the interest payments rose from nearly £13m in 2009 to £17.7m a year later.

During the takeover, FSG repaid around £200m worth of debt accumulated by Hicks and Gillett, and are thought to have invested some money into the squad in addition to the £50m sale of Fernando Torres.

But before the FSG takeover, the accounts filed for the final full year of Hicks and Gillett's reign show that the revenue increased by £7m, and administration expenses - largely due to player contracts - increased by £20m.

And profits from player trading were £23m, which was likely due to the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

The accounts read: "During the year the company committed a further £2.9m to the planning, design and enabling works of its new stadium project, giving a total of £48.4m carried forward under the heading of assets in the course of construction.

"At the year end [July 31, 2010] the directors were confident at that time that a new stadium would be funded and completed and were fully committed to the project.

"Following the acquisition of the company subsequent to the year end, the new owners are currently evaluating the best course of action with regard to the stadium.

"Whilst this review process has not been completed at the date of signing the accounts, it is highly likely there will be a significant write off of the new stadium project costs in the financial year ending July 31 2011.

"The directors continue to monitor the useful economic life of the existing stadium, which they consider to be five years including the current year."

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