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A previous thread explained the differences between a football club’s profit and loss account and its cash flow statement, as it is important to understand where the money has been spent. This thread will look at how this works for each of the 20 Premier League clubs in 2017/18.
#AFC went from £52m operating profit to £42m operating loss, due to lower revenue after failing to qualify for the Champions League, compounded by higher wages and player amortisation plus Wenger pay-off. However, £120m profit on player sales resulted in £70m profit before tax. 
#AFC cash flow boosted by favourable £58m movement in working capital (increase in creditors). Spent £29m (net) on players (purchases £110m, sales £81m). Paid £20m for Emirates loan (£11m interest & £9m debt) plus £12m tax. Net cash inflow of £51m was highest in Premier League.
A surge in the #AFCB wage bill (partly because 2016/17 accounts only covered 11 months), allied with flat revenue, meant Bournemouth going from £17m operating profit to £13m operating loss. The club only made £1m profit on player sales, so it reported £11m loss before tax.
After adding back £28m player amortisation and depreciation, #AFCB had £15m operating cash flow. They spent £32m on players (purchases £38m, sales only £6m) and £5m on capex (Canford Magna site for new training ground), requiring £17m loans from the owners to fund it.
Following promotion to the Premier League, #BHAFC made £9m operating profit, but a small £3m profit on player sales meant that profit before tax was “only” £12m. However, that represented a £51m improvement over the £39m loss in the Championship, including £9m promotion payments.
#BHAFC spent almost all their £44m operating cash flow on players with a net £41m outlay (purchases £42m, sales just £1m) plus £12m on capex. However, chairman Tony Bloom once again put his hand in his pocket, providing £32m new loans. The owner has provided over £300m in total.
Despite good revenue growth, #BurnleyFC operating profit fell from £26m to (a still respectable) £14m, due to higher wages and player amortisation. Solid £31m profit on player sales meant a very healthy £45m profit before tax.
#BurnleyFC is a club that lives within its means. It had £53m operating cash flow, spending £27m on players (purchases £42m, sales £15m), £6m on capex and £6m on tax, with the remaining £14m simply increasing the bank balance. Amazingly, they have no debt, so pay no interest.
The #CFC business model has been to run large operating losses (driven by a chunky wage bill), offset by big profits from player trading. 2017/18 was no exception with £47m operating loss more than compensated by £113m profit on player sales, giving £67m profit before tax.
After adding back £135m player amortisation and depreciation, #CFC had £67m operating cash flow, but then spent a net £100m on players (purchases £192m, sales £92m) and £7m capex (improvements at Stamford Bridge and Cobham training ground), requiring £38m from Roman Abramovich.
#CPFC had the highest loss before tax in the Premier League with £36m, despite achieving a club record revenue of £150m. Investment in the squad saw player amortisation and wages rise £19m, leading to the operating loss widening to £37m. Profit on player sales was only £2m.
#CPFC £12m operating cash flow was eaten up by £41m on players (purchases £54m, sales £13m), £2m on ground improvements, £3m on tax and £1m on interest payments, leaving a £34m shortfall. The shortfall was funded by £36m of loans: £29m external and £7.5m from the owners.
#EFC operating loss shot up from £12m to £88m, the worst by far in the Premier League, due to £70m increase in player costs (wages & player amortisation) & £15m management changes. Largely offset by £88m profit on player sales, but new stadium costs meant £13m loss before tax.
For the first time in many years #EFC had negative cash from operations (£7m) before spending £103m on players (purchases £156m, sales £53m), £8m on stadium & £2m interest, leading to a £120m cash deficit. This was funded by £75m bank borrowings and £45m loan from Farhad Moshiri.
Adding back £20m player amortisation/depreciation plus £6m working capital movements gave #HTAFC £49m operating cash flow. However, largely spent on players £37m (purchases £39m, sales £2m), capex £6m (stadium & training ground) and tax £1m with £3m repaid to owner Dean Hoyle.
#LCFC went from £56m operating profit to £34m operating loss, largely due to revenue falling by £74m to £159m, as no repeat of the unprecedented 2016/17 Champions League participation. This was compensated by £38m profit on player sales, thus ending up with £2m profit before tax.
#LCFC had £29m cash from operations, but spent £50m on players (purchases £79m, sales £29m), repaid £3m of owner loans and paid £1m of tax, resulting in £25m net cash outflow, though still had £27m bank balance. New bank loans since taken out to help fund a new training ground.
#LFC £125m profit before tax is the second highest ever reported in the Premier League, but this was driven by £124m profit on player sales. Operating profit was unchanged at £7m, as £91m revenue growth was absorbed by increases in wages, player amortisation and other expenses.
Adding back £87m player amortisation/depreciation plus £8m working capital movements gave #LFC £103m operating cash flow, allowing them to spend £49m on players (purchases £154m, sales £105m) and £16m on infrastructure, as well as repaying £30m of debt (bank £17m, owners £13m).
#MCFC reduced their operating loss from £30m to £22m, mainly thanks to £27m revenue growth. Wage bill was flat, but player amortisation was £13m higher. £39m profit on player sales helped produce £10m profit before tax.
Adding back £147m player amortisation/depreciation gave #MCFC £136m operating cash flow, the highest in the top tier. Spent £148m on players (purchases £228m, sales £80m) and £30m on capex. Funded by £58m increase in share capital. No cash flow statement, so used CFG figures.
#MUFC operating profit dropped from £70m to £26m, mainly due to growth in wages and player amortisation. Relatively low £18m profit on player sales, combined with £18m interest payable, meant £27m profit before tax. Tax bill up from £17m to £63m after change in US corporate tax.
#MUFC £120m operating cash flow would have been higher without negative £55m working capital movement. Net £108m spent on players (purchases £155m, sales £47m). Only PL club to pay dividends £22m plus highest interest payments £18m, so £40m on Glazers’ financial engineering.
Following promotion, #NUFC made £18m operating profit, a staggering £108m improvement. This was 4th highest in the Premier League, but low £4m profit on player sales meant that profit before tax was “only” £23m. However, that was £70m better than £47m loss in the Championship,
Adding back £43m player amortisation/depreciation gave #NUFC £59m operating cash flow, but they only spent £16m on players (purchases £46m, sales £30m) and £1m on capex, leaving £42m net cash inflow (2nd highest in top flight). Repaid £33m of Mike Ashley loan after year-end.
#SaintsFC £34m operating loss was driven by a £30m revenue fall, as performance on the pitch was much worse than 2016/17 (Europa League, 8th place in Premier League), exacerbated by higher player amortisation. Offset by £69m profit on player sales to give £35m profit before tax.
#SaintsFC had negative operating cash flow (£12m) for the first time since 2012, when they were last in the Championship. Spent £4m on capex and £1m interest. Took out a £20m bank loan and had £14m net player sales (purchases £66m, sales £80m), so cash balance increased by £17m.
#SCFC £52m operating loss was the second worst in the Premier League, though this did include £29m impairment that reduced the value of some players in the accounts. Also driven by lower revenue and higher wages. £22m profit on player sales restricted loss before tax to £30m.
Despite minus £8m operating cash flow, #SCFC still spent £29m on players (purchases £56m, sales £27m). This was covered by £47m additional loans from the Coates family, who have put in £148m in the last decade, converting £24m of this into equity.
#Swans operating loss more than doubled to £48m, the third worst in the Premier League. Wage bill cut, but significant investment in playing squad reflected in higher player amortisation plus £15m write-down of player values. Largely compensated by £46m profit on player sales.
#Swans had £26m cash loss for operations (including £(33)m working capital movement). Largely covered by £16m net player sales (purchases £38m, sales £54m) and £5m loans, but £2m capex resulted in £7m net outflow, leaving cash balance of less than £500k, lowest in Premier League.
#THFC generated an impressive £136m operating cash flow, but also needed £279m from new loans and £6m from net player sales (purchases £74m, sales £80m). Huge amount spent on the new stadium £481m and also had to pay £26m tax & £14m interest, so cash balance fell £99m to £101m.
#WatfordFC operating loss doubled to £29m, due to investment in the squad: wage bill increased £10m, while player amortisation was up £12m. Profit on player sales was only £3m (down from £22m the prior season), while interest payable was up to £5m, giving £32m loss before tax.
#WatfordFC generated £9m cash from operations, boosted by £35m owner loan, but ended up with £2m cash outflow, as they spent net £32m on players (purchases £51m, sales £19m), £5m on updating the stadium and Colney training ground, £6m on repaying other loans; and £3m interest.
#WBA went from £26m operating profit to £13m operating loss, as revenue fell £13m (lower TV money), while wages and player amortisation rose £13m and £8m respectively. Partly offset by £6m profit on player sales, which meant a £7m loss before tax.
#WBA generated £10m cash from operations, but spent £36m net on players (purchases £42m, sales £6m), £2m capex and £3m tax. This was funded by eating into cash reserves, which dropped £30m to £9m.
#WHUFC went from £11m operating profit to £6m operating loss, as revenue fell £8m, while the wage bill increased £12m. However, profit on player sales of £30m, partly offset by £4m interest payable, helped deliver £18m profit before tax.
#WHUFC generated a healthy £37m from operations, which was spent on new players £12m (purchases £63m, sales £51m), £20m bank loans repaid and £13m interest payment to Sullivan and Gold (accrued over the past 6 years). New director J Albert Smith provided £10m interest-free loan.
So, there we have it, an analysis of the cash movements for all 20 Premier League clubs in 2017/18. Hopefully, this will have explained how the money was earned and where it was spent, giving you a better understanding of your club’s strategy and actions.
