End September Finance Update
September was a difficult month with no Saturday home league fixtures. We have commented before on the negative financial impact of Cup games, and moving league fixtures to a Tuesday night. So it was pleasing to make a £15k operating profit for the month.
Home games require us to split gate receipts and Vase games draw lower crowds of around 1500. FA Cup fixtures are more likely to attract a bigger crowd, but every one of our FA Cup games have been away from home. The away tie at Radcliffe was our biggest Cup game by some way but costs were also high. A police presence meant that police and stewarding costs were in excess of £11k, a reminder that crowd trouble, or the potential for trouble, is a financial burden.
Tuesday nights are less well attended, and secondary spend on food and beverages is typically lower. Our live stream may exacerbate this but it is an invaluable service to many supporters throughout the country, even internationally, which goes far beyond its commercial value. The new pitch means we should suffer far less from weather related postponements in the winter than last season.
We have revised August numbers downwards for the extra costs of an additional week’s player wages which fell into August but hadn’t been accrued for in the previous report. Monthly variations are smoothed out over the season, and we remain on budget. However the Cup runs have tested our squad depth and we have been hit by injuries. Playing twice a week, most weeks, has been tough on the players.
Pitch rental revenue grew in September and we are in line with expectations for the year. We are reviewing the resources we need to run the stadium every day and evening.
The stadium is being used seven days a week, and we are seeing increased usage of the facility beyond pitch rental. Food and beverage sales, for example, are growing outside matchday from use of Starkies on some evenings. Reducing our dependence on matchday income reduces the financial risks to the club.
It is worth noting that despite the added costs of operating the stadium every day our total costs are currently lower than last year. We continue to look for ways in which we can reduce the costs in the stadium, and are exploring technologies to reduce our energy bills in particular. The new LED floodlights are due to be installed in November.
We have now started to amortise the Bury Council funding for the pitch from September, as this was the first month it was formally rented out. The amortisation figure is something which will be discussed with our auditors.
Our cash position is strong and we now have a significant item of mandatory expenditure to meet in the work required to the steel throughout the stadium. This, and the costs of the LED floodlighting, will reduce the cash reserves on our balance sheet, but we have no concerns about working capital.